What are neurosecretory cells?

Neurosecretory cells are special cells that help your body talk to different parts of it using messages made from hormones.

Imagine you have a mailbox, and inside the mailbox is a note that says, "Time for lunch!" That note goes all the way down to your stomach, telling it to get ready. Neurosecretory cells are like those mailboxes, they write the notes (which are hormones) and send them through special highways in your body so other parts can do their jobs.

Neurosecretory cells live in a part of your brain called the hypothalamus, which is like the control center for your body. These cells make hormones, just like you might write a message on paper. Then they send those messages through little tubes called axons all the way down to another gland called the pituitary gland, which acts like a messenger boy, it takes the note and sends it out into the rest of your body.

So when you're growing, sleeping, or even feeling hungry, these special cells are hard at work sending messages through your body.