Growth hormone (GH) gene expression predominantly occurs in the pituitary gland, although it also occurs in many extrapituitary sites, including the brain. The cellular location and ontogeny of neural GH production is, however, largely unknown. This has therefore been determined during chick embryogenesis. In chicks, the brain develops from the neural tube at embryonic day (ED) 3. At this age, the divisions of the brain (the telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, metencephalon and myelencephalon) have intense GH immunoreactivity (GH-IR) (detected by two polyclonal antibodies and a monoclonal antibody for chicken GH). The otic and optic vesicles were also strongly GH immunoreactive, as were the Vth (semi-lunar), VIIth (facial), VIIIth (acoustic) and IXth (glossopharyngeal) nerve ganglia. This GH-IR was specific for GH and was lost when the antibodies were preabsorbed with recombinant chicken GH. The widespread distribution of GH-IR in the neural tissues of ED 3 embryos was mirrored by the distribution of GH receptor (GHR) immunoreactivity, detected by an antibody raised against the chicken GHR. In ED 6/ED 7 embryos, the neural retina of the eye and the epithelial and lens fiber cells were intensely stained for GH-IR, as was Rathke's pouch and the wall of the diencephalon. In contrast, only a few scattered cells were immunoreactive in the surrounding mesoderm. At ED 14, the GH-IR in the brain was restricted to specific tissues and cells. For instance, immunoreactive cells were present in the molecular and pyramidal layers of the cerebral cortex, in the gray matter of the cerebellum, in the choroid plexus, and in the walls of the ventricles. In summary, GH- and GHR-like proteins are abundant in neural tissues of the chick during the first third of incubation, becoming discretely localized to specific tissues and cells during later incubation. The localization of GH and GHR in these tissues, prior to the ontogeny of plasma GH, suggests autocrine or paracrine roles for GH during early embryogenesis.