Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Pineal Gland and Its Endocrine Role

The Pineal Gland and Its Endocrine Role

Axelrod, J.

Paperback

Series: NATO Science Series A:, Book 65

Medical ReferenceCognitionOther Animals

ISBN10: 147571453X
ISBN13: 9781475714531
Publisher: Springer
Published: May 23 2013
Pages: 604
Weight: 1.79
Height: 1.24 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The pineal gland has been a subject of interest and speculation for more than 2000 years. Greek anatomists were impressed by the ob- servation that the pineal gland is an unpaired structure and they believed that it regulated the flow of thoughts. The philosopher Descartes proposed an important role for this organ in brain function. At the beginning of the 20th century experiments by several investi- gators indicated that the pineal influenced sexual function and skin pigmentation and was also responsive to light signals. With the iso- lation of melatonin from bovine pineal glands by Lerner and cowork- ers in 1958 the modern era of pineal research was initiated. Within a few years the pathway for the biosynthesis of melatonin in the pineal was elucidated. Soon thereafter it was shown that the formation of melatonin was influenced by environmental lighting. Ana- tomists found that the pineal was innervated by sympathetic nerves and that the gland had photoreceptor elements. It was also shown that the gonads were influenced by light via the pineal gland. Research on the pineal gland became of increasing interest to anatomists, bioche- mists, pharmacologists and endocrinologists. With the expanding know- ledge concerning the function of the pineal gland contributed by the wide variety of disciplines, it was thought that a study workshop would be timely.

Also in

Other Animals

View All