ABSTRACT
The discipline of Neuroendocrinology examines the interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system. The scientific discipline of Neuroendocrinology has developed in the interface between strictly endocrine and strictly neural mechanisms. The chemical structures of neuronal products known as chemical messengers can vary considerably. Peptides constitute a large class of chemical messengers produced by neurons. Some of the greatest advances in Neuroendocrinology have involved the neuropeptides, including their discovery as secretory products of neurons and emerging knowledge about their physiological functions within the nervous system and elsewhere in the body. In addition to the transduction of neural signals into endocrine signals as just described, the neuroendocrine system mediates the cooperation between the nervous and endocrine systems to regulate in an optimum manner the physiological functions of the organism. Schematic representation of the various elements involved in neuroendocrine integration. The number of chemical messengers of neurosecretory neurons for which endocrine actions are proved is relatively low.
