Part of the vertebrate brain that is derived from the forebrain and located on the ventral surface below the thalamus and the cerebrum. The hypothalamus regulates a wide variety of physiological processes, including maintenance of body temperature (see thermoregulation), the alarm response to stress, water balance, sleeping, feeding, lactation, and ovarian and uterine cycles, via both the autonomic nervous system (which it controls) and the neuroendocrine system. In mammals the central oscillator of the biological clock is located in the paired clusters of neurons known as the suprachiasmatic nuclei within the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus synthesizes the hormones oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone, which are transported to the posterior pituitary, from where they are released into the bloodstream. Indeed, the endocrine functions of the hypothalamus are largely mediated by the pituitary gland, to which it is connected by a short stalk. The pituitary responds to releasing hormones produced by the hypothalamus, which thereby indirectly controls hormone production in other glands.