What is a pineal body?
The pineal gland, also known as the ‘pineal body,’ is a small endocrine gland. It is located on the back portion of the third cerebral ventricle of the brain, which is a fluid-filled space in the brain. The gland is named for its shape, which resembles a pinecone (in Latin, ‘pinea’).
What is the purpose of the pineal body?
The main function of the pineal gland is to receive information about the state of the light-dark cycle from the environment and convey this information to produce and secrete the hormone melatonin.
Where is your pineal body?
The pineal gland is located deep in the brain in an area called the epithalamus, where the two halves of the brain join. In humans, this is situated in the middle of the brain; it sits in a groove just above the thalamus, which is an area that co-ordinates a variety of functions related to our senses.
What does pineal mean literally?
The word pineal, from Latin pinea (pine-cone), was first used in the late 17th century to refer to the cone shape of the brain gland.
Why pineal gland is called Third Eye?
The name “third eye” comes from the pineal gland’s primary function of ‘letting in light and darkness’, just as our two eyes do. This gland is the melatonin-secreting neuroendocrine organ containing light-sensitive cells that control the circadian rhythm (1).
Why pineal gland is called third eye?
Why pineal gland is called biological clock?
The pineal gland is called the biological clock of the body. It produces and secretes the hormone melatonin, which helps regulate biological rhythms such as sleep and wake cycles. Hence, it is regarded as the biological clock.
What is a pituitary?
The pituitary is considered the “master control gland” because it makes the hormones that control the levels of hormones made by most of the other endocrine glands in the body. The pituitary gland has 2 parts, the anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary.
What is the thalamus?
The thalamus is a mostly gray matter structure of the diencephalon that has many essential roles in human physiology. The thalamus is composed of different nuclei that each serve a unique role, ranging from relaying sensory and motor signals, as well as regulation of consciousness and alertness.