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Pineal gland
Pineal gland or epiphysis (in red)
Diagram of pituitary and pineal glands in the human brain
Details
Precursor
Neural ectoderm, roof of diencephalon
Artery
Posterior cerebral artery
Identifiers
Latin
glandula pinealis
MeSH
D010870
NeuroNames
297
NeuroLex ID
birnlex_1184
TA98
A11.2.00.001
TA2
3862
FMA
62033
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy
[edit on Wikidata]
The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body[1] or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. In the darkness the pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone, which modulates sleep patterns following the diurnal cycles.[2] The shape of the gland resembles a pine cone, which gives it its name.[3] The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus join.[4][5] It is one of the neuroendocrine secretory circumventricular organs in which capillaries are mostly permeable to solutes in the blood.[6]
The pineal gland is present in almost all vertebrates, but is absent in protochordates in which there is a simple pineal homologue. The hagfish, considered as a primitive vertebrate, has a rudimentary structure regarded as the "pineal equivalent" in the dorsal diencephalon.[7] In some species of amphibians and reptiles, the gland is linked to a light-sensing organ, variously called the parietal eye, the pineal eye or the third eye.[8] Reconstruction of the biological evolution pattern suggests that the pineal gland was originally a kind of atrophied photoreceptor that developed into a neuroendocrine organ.
Ancient Greeks were the first to notice the pineal gland and believed it to be a valve, a guardian for the flow of pneuma. Galen in the 2nd century C.E. could not find any functional role and regarded the gland as a structural support for the brain tissue. He gave the name konario, meaning cone or pinecone, which during Renaissance was translated to Latin as pinealis. The 17th century philosopher René Descartes regarded the gland as having a mystical purpose, describing it as the "principal seat of the soul". In the mid-20th century, the real biological role as a neuroendocrine organ was established.[9]
^Cite error: The named reference Chen_1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Reiter, R. J. (November 1991). "Neuroendocrine effects of light". International Journal of Biometeorology. 35 (3): 169–175. doi:10.1007/BF01049063. ISSN 0020-7128. PMID 1778647.
^"Pineal (as an adjective)". Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper. 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
^Macchi MM, Bruce JN (2004). "Human pineal physiology and functional significance of melatonin". Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 25 (3–4): 177–195. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2004.08.001. PMID 15589268. S2CID 26142713.
^Arendt J, Skene DJ (February 2005). "Melatonin as a chronobiotic". Sleep Medicine Reviews. 9 (1): 25–39. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2004.05.002. PMID 15649736. Exogenous melatonin has acute sleepiness-inducing and temperature-lowering effects during 'biological daytime', and when suitably timed (it is most effective around dusk and dawn) it will shift the phase of the human circadian clock (sleep, endogenous melatonin, cortisol) to earlier (advance phase shift) or later (delay phase shift) times.
^Gross PM, Weindl A (December 1987). "Peering through the windows of the brain". Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 7 (6): 663–672. doi:10.1038/jcbfm.1987.120. PMID 2891718. S2CID 18748366.
^Ooka-Souda S, Kadota T, Kabasawa H (December 1993). "The preoptic nucleus: the probable location of the circadian pacemaker of the hagfish, Eptatretus burgeri". Neuroscience Letters. 164 (1–2): 33–36. doi:10.1016/0304-3940(93)90850-K. PMID 8152610. S2CID 40006945.
^Eakin RM (1973). The Third Eye. Berkeley: University of California Press.
^Lokhorst GJ (2018). Zalta EN (ed.). "Descartes and the Pineal Gland; In: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" (Winter 2018 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
The pinealgland (also known as the pineal body or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. In the darkness the...
A pinealgland cyst is a usually benign (non-malignant) cyst in the pinealgland, a small endocrine gland in the brain. Historically, these fluid-filled...
include the pinealgland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testicles, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus and adrenal glands. The hypothalamus...
at the top of the head, is photoreceptive and is associated with the pinealgland, regulating circadian rhythmicity and hormone production for thermoregulation...
Lerner and colleagues stemmed from the isolation of a substance from the pinealgland of cows that could induce skin lightening in common frogs. This compound...
innervate the iris and pinealgland. The SCG provides sympathetic innervation to structures within the head, including the pinealgland, the blood vessels...
brain sand or acervuli or psammoma bodies or pineal concretions) are calcified structures in the pinealgland and other areas of the brain such as the choroid...
terminalis (OVLT)), the median eminence, the pituitary neural lobe, and the pinealgland. The circumventricular organs are midline structures around the third...
systems. In humans, the major endocrine glands are the thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, pineal, and adrenal glands, and the (male) testicles and (female)...
and sunk into what today is known as the pinealgland. Rick Strassman has hypothesized that the pinealgland, which maintains light sensitivity, is responsible...
posterior paraventricular nuclei, the posterior commissure, and the pinealgland. The function of the epithalamus is to connect the limbic system to other...
homeostasis. The pinealgland, thymus gland, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, and the two adrenal glands are all endocrine glands. Exocrine glands secrete their...
Pinealocytes are the main cells contained in the pinealgland, located behind the third ventricle and between the two hemispheres of the brain. The primary...
compound, which was identified as the putative active component of a bovine pinealgland extract known as epithalamin. Most studies on epitalon and epithalamin...
epithalamus, where it borders the third ventricle, and lies in front of the pinealgland. Although it is a microstructure each habenular nucleus is divided into...
secretion of melatonin in response to light information transmitted to the pinealgland. Earlier studies have shown localization of melatonin receptors in this...
occurs inside the brain, perhaps in a small midline structure called the pinealgland. Although it is widely accepted that Descartes explained the problem...
Papillary Tumors of the Pineal Region are located on the pinealgland which is located in the center of the brain. The pinealgland is located on roof of...
subdivided into three groups: Endocrine gland hypofunction/hyposecretion (leading to hormone deficiency) Endocrine gland hyperfunction/hypersecretion (leading...
dopamine. Axelrod also made major contributions to the understanding of the pinealgland and how it is regulated during the sleep-wake cycle. Axelrod was born...
Pineoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the pinealgland. A pineoblastoma is a supratentorial midline primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Pineoblastoma can...
(5-methoxytryptoline) long claimed to be produced in the pinealgland during the metabolism of melatonin, however its pineal occurrence remains controversial. Its IUPAC...
The pituitary gland (or hypophysis cerebri) is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, protruding...
revolutionized the study of anatomy. In this book, he described the pinealgland and what he believed the function was, and was able to draw the corpus...
passes it on to the pinealgland, a tiny structure shaped like a pine cone and located on the epithalamus. In response, the pineal secretes the hormone...
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