Feedback Mechanisms

If hormone levels are too high, production is reduced. The driving force for the release of hormones from endocrine glands in many cases comes from the CNS. The center responsible for this is the hypothalamus, which, as you already know from the nervous system module, is part of the diencephalon. The hypothalamus forms a functional community with the immediately underlying pituitary gland. It is the superior endocrine organizational center that controls the hormone production of peripheral endocrine glands such as thyroid, adrenal and gonads. This mechanism is called the hypothalamus-pituitary system.