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The posterior pituitary serves as the storage and release site for hormones produced by the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic neurons synthesize oxytocin and vasopressin and send them down their axons to the posterior pituitary, where they are stored in nerve terminals and released into the bloodstream when needed. This neurohypophysis arrangement means these hormones are produced in the hypothalamus but released from the posterior pituitary rather than the anterior part. The anterior pituitary, instead, releases hormones it makes in response to releasing and inhibiting signals from the hypothalamus, delivered via the portal system, and the pineal gland is not involved in this storage-release pathway.