The median eminence is generally defined as the portion of the ventral hypothalamus from which the portal vessels arise.[1] The median eminence is a small swelling on the tuber cinereum, posterior to and atop the pituitary stalk; it lies in the area roughly bounded on its posterolateral region by the cerebral peduncles, and on its anterolateral region by the optic chiasm.
The median eminence is a part of the hypothalamus from which regulatory hormones are released.[2][7] It is integral to the hypophyseal portal system, which connects the hypothalamus with the pituitary gland. The pars nervosa (part of the posterior pituitary gland) is continuous with the median eminence of the hypothalamus via the infundibular stalk. Parvocellular neurosecretory cells from the hypothalamus terminate in the median eminence of the hypothalamus.[9]
^Scott DE, Pepe GJ (July 1987). "The fetal baboon median eminence as a circumventricular organ: I. Transmission electron microscopy". Brain Research Bulletin. 19 (1): 87–94. doi:10.1016/0361-9230(87)90170-5. PMID3651843. S2CID26399150.
^ abcGross PM (1992). "Chapter 31: Circumventricular organ capillaries". Circumventricular Organs and Brain Fluid Environment - Molecular and Functional Aspects. Progress in Brain Research. Vol. 91. pp. 219–33. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(08)62338-9. ISBN9780444814197. PMID1410407.
^Ganong WF (2000). "Circumventricular organs: definition and role in the regulation of endocrine and autonomic function". Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology & Physiology. 27 (5–6): 422–7. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1681.2000.03259.x. PMID10831247. S2CID23652492.
^ abcdePalkovits M (1984). "Neuropeptides in the hypothalamo-hypophyseal system: lateral retrochiasmatic area as a common gate for neuronal fibers towards the median eminence". Peptides. 5 (Suppl 1): 35–9. doi:10.1016/0196-9781(84)90262-6. PMID6148739. S2CID3877865.
^ abShaver SW, Pang JJ, Wainman DS, Wall KM, Gross PM (March 1992). "Morphology and function of capillary networks in subregions of the rat tuber cinereum". Cell and Tissue Research. 267 (3): 437–48. doi:10.1007/BF00319366. PMID1571958. S2CID27789146.
