Previous research has shown that the hypothalamus and substantia nigra are the main sources of dopamine production in the brain. In adult mammals, dopamine synthesized in the hypothalamus, mostly in neurons that localized in the insert zones, the periventricular and arcuate nuclei, is involved in neuroendocrine regulation as a) a neurotransmitter controlling the secretory activity of peptidergic target neurons, b) a neuromodulator regulating the release of neurohormones from neighboring peptidergic axons into the median eminence, and c) a neurohormone passing via the hypophyseal portal circulatory system to the anterior lobe of the hypophysis, where it inhibits prolactin secretion.

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