The integration of the endocrine system : being the fifth Horsley memorial lecture, delivered at the University College Hospital Medical School / by Sir Walter Langdon-Brown.

  • Walter Langdon-Brown
Date:
1935
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The integration of the endocrine system : being the fifth Horsley memorial lecture, delivered at the University College Hospital Medical School / by Sir Walter Langdon-Brown. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    hidden [as the pituitary]. Here in this well con¬ cealed spot, almost to be covered by a thumb-nail, lies the very mainspring of primitive existence— vegetative, emotional and reproductive—on which, with more or less success, man, chiefly, has come to superimpose a cortex of inhibitions. The symptoms arising from disturbance of this ances¬ tral apparatus are beginning to stand out in their true significance... .The diencephalon is an an¬ cient part of the brain which remains essentially unaltered in all creatures that have a brain at all. Moreover, it proves to have direct connections with the first of the organs of internal secretion to become recognisably differentiated, and on which the very perpetuation of the species depends. Such primitive instincts as hunger, thirst and sleep also seem to be mediated through this region. Cychcism, which may be diurnal, lunar or seasonal, is a peculiarity of many physiological processes, such as oestrus, menstruation, hiber¬ nation and indeed ordinary sleep. That these processes are somehow under the control of the diencephalo-pituitary apparatus seems most pro¬ bable. ... Recent investigations serve closely to relate the diencephalon to metabolic processes, to the primary emotions and lastly to the sym¬ pathetic nervous system.