Organization and Integration of the Endocrine System: The Arousal and Sleep Perspective

This article focuses on the neuroendocrine infrastructure of the adaptive response to stress and on its effects on the major endocrine axes in the body. Also discussed is the altered regulation or dysregulation of the adaptive response in various physiologic and pathophysiologic states, which may influence the growth and development of an individual and define the vulnerability of this individual to endocrine, psychiatric, or immunologic disease.