nerve centre
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnerve centreˈnerve ˌcentre British English, nerve center American English noun [countable] CONTROLthe place from which a system, activity, organization etc is controlled the ship’s nerve centerExamples from the Corpusnerve centre• The battle bus was not the great nerve centre of the nation which it might have appeared.• It was the nerve centre of the strike operations ...