Abstract:
Reproductive capacity, the key element for species
survival, depends on a complex organ network involving
the hypothalamus, pituitary, gonads, and internal and
external genitalia. This system is centrally controlled by
incompletely understood neuroendocrine mechanisms
integrated at the hypothalamic level, whose elucidation
is the research focus. Vertebrate reproduction depends
entirely upon the neurosecretion of the decapeptide
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from less
than 4 000 GnRH neurons in the preoptic area of the
hypothalamus.
