Endocrine Organs

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Endocrine Organ Objectives

Explain what it means that an organ is “endocrine,” and provide examples of endocrine organs.
Locate various endocrine organs in the body.
Describe how how the nervous system and endocrine system connect, why this is important, and the hormones produced by the pituitary.

Week #7 is an important point in this course.

Find out why!

We are beginning the endocrine system with a look at why the system is important, including examples of organ structure and function.

The nervous system and endocrine system are both involved in communicating with organs and coordinating responses. As a result, it is critical both systems work together and do not send mixed messages.

The hypothalamus portion of the brain (nervous system) directly connects to the pituitary (endocrine system). The pituitary in turn sends hormones through blood vessels to the hypothalamus.

The pituitary releases a suite of hormones that impact organs throughout the body.

Take a moment to examine the range of effects the pituitary hormones have on various organs.

The anterior and posterior portions of the pituitary look very different under the microscope, reflecting their different functions.

This video shows the pituitary location relative to other structures of the head we’ve already met in this course.

The pituitary’s hormones impact a number of other endocrine organs that produce hormones of their own.

Similar to a thermostat that turns off the heat when a room reaches a set temperature, some of the endocrine organs stop releasing hormones when a certain level is reached. This video provides an example.

These are the endocrine organs that will appear in this guide, including their hormones and the appearance of some of the tissues.

The next section introduces the hormones released by endocrine cells.

Check your knowledge. Can you:

explain what it means that an organ is “endocrine,” and provide examples of endocrine organs?
locate various endocrine organs in the body?
describe how the nervous system and endocrine system connect, why this is important, and the hormones produced by the pituitary?

Go back to the Endocrine System Guide Overview

Go forward to the Hormones Page

Endocrine System Lecture Guide Contents

The material from this guide and corresponding lecture is assessed on the weekly quiz.