Lesson · S.1.9
The endocrine system
How glands use hormones to regulate the body over minutes to years, and the feedback loops the TEAS tests most.
ObjectiveS.1.9Read2 minExam weightHuman Anatomy and Physiology ≈ 41% of Science
This lesson is part of the full Study Guide
Unlock every lesson, unit, and quiz across all four subjects. The Science human anatomy and physiology unit is included.
See editions and pricing →What you will be able to do
- Match each major gland to the hormone it releases and the process it regulates.
- Explain how the hypothalamus and pituitary gland link the nervous and endocrine systems.
- Contrast negative feedback and positive feedback with a hormone example of each.
What the lesson concludes
- Hormones travel in the blood, so their effects are slower and longer lasting than a nerve signal.
- The hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland, linking the nervous and endocrine systems.
- Negative feedback, such as insulin and glucagon, keeps blood glucose in range and is the more common regulation pattern.
- Positive feedback, such as oxytocin in labour, amplifies a change until a defined endpoint is reached, a detail the TEAS likes to test.
- Too much or too little of a single hormone, such as thyroxine in hyperthyroidism or growth hormone in gigantism, can disrupt the whole system.