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Coordination of the reproductive processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2011

G. W. Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Human Anatomy, Oxford

Extract

The title I have been asked to discuss is the Coordination' of Reproductive Processes and this implies that there are many structures and functions to be coordinated. Text-fig. 1 gives a general idea of what these structures and functions are. The basal region of the brain, known as the hypothalamus, is played upon by many stimuli from the external environment acting through different nerve tracts. The hypothalamus in turn regulates, through a system of small vessels, the secretory activity of the anterior pituitary gland, which for the purposes of reproduction secretes two or three gonadotrophic hormones into the bloodstream. These hormones are very largely, if not entirely, responsible for maintaining the activity of the ovary and the testis, and for varying and regulating the processes going on in the gonad. The gonad in turn secretes into the bloodstream simpler steroid hormones, which act upon the reproductive tract and the mammary glands.

Type
Physiological and environmental aspects
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

References

Harris, G.W. & Naftolin, F. (1970) The hypothalamus and the control of ovulation. Br. med. Bull. 26, 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haterius, H.G. & Derbyshire, A.J. (1937) Ovulation in the rabbit following upon stimulation of the hypothalamus. Am. J. Physiol. 119, 329.Google Scholar
Nether, A., Lumbroso, P., Yaneva, H. & Bellaisch, J. (1958) La testicule féminisant. Annls Endocr. 19, 994.Google Scholar
Popa, G.T. & Fielding, U. (1930) A portal circulation from the pituitary to the hypothalamic region. J. Anat. 65, 88.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1965) Physiology of Lactation. Technical Report Series No. 305. WHO, Geneva,Google Scholar

A full bibliography is given in:

Donovan, B.T. & Harris, G.W. (1966) Neurohumoral mechanisms in reproduction. In: Marshall's Physiology of Reproduction, Vol. III, Chap. 27. Longmans Green, London.Google Scholar