Posterior Pituitary
Posterior Pituitary

Posterior Pituitary

The posterior pituitary resembles unmyelinated nervous tissue and is composed of the nerve cell terminals that run down from neurons whose cell bodies are located in the hypothalamus. Herring bodies are distensions of the axon terminal fibers where neurosecretory granules have accumulated. Make sure that you can distinguish these from the blood vessels - Herring bodies appear lighter and rounder. Because the cell bodies of the secretory cells of the posterior pituitary are located in the hypothalamus, the nuclei visible in this slide belong to supporting cells known as pituicytes.