Figure 11. Midsagittal section of the human brain (from the XIX century wax collection of human brains at the Museum of the Department of Human Anatomy of the University of Bologna, Italy). The hypothalamus (asterisk) lies above the pituitary gland (cross) and has as its boundaries (1) the anterior commissure and lamina terminalis anteriorly; (2) mammillary bodies and midbrain posteriorly, and (3) thalamus superiorly. (From Lechan R.M. and Toni R., Regulation of Pituitary Function, in Korenman S.G (Ed), Atlas of Clinical Endocrinology, Current Medicine, vol IV, 1-25, 2000).