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Often known as the primordial third eye and anatomical middle of our spirituality and consciousness – the pineal gland has been a supply of human thriller and fascination for hundreds of years. The pineal gland is understood to be extremely receptive to psychoactive medication, so what occurs to it once we use cannabis?
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The Pineal Gland
The pineal gland, also called the conarium or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland discovered within the brains of most vertebrates. Functionally, the pineal gland is understood for its manufacturing of melatonin, a hormone that regulates each circadian and seasonal sleep cycles. Spiritually, it’s often known as the seat of the soul, the third eye, and the place the place our ideas are fashioned and manifest into the universe round us… however extra on that a bit of bit later.
The title, Pineal gland, comes from its form that strongly resembles a pinecone. It’s a midline mind construction, discovered within the epithalamus close to the middle of the mind, and it has no pair. It’s tucked right into a groove between the 2 thalamus halves. The pineal gland is without doubt one of the neuroendocrine secretory circumventricular organs through which capillaries are largely permeable to solutes within the blood.
One other function that makes the pineal gland anatomically distinctive is that the pineal gland shouldn’t be separated from the remainder of the physique by the blood-brain barrier. That means, pineal gland will get ample blood flower immediately from the posterior cerebral artery, making it extra receptive to sure substances, reminiscent of psychoactive medication like cannabis.
The Third Eye, from a scientific standpoint
The concept of the pineal gland being our primordial “third eye” clearly has some otherworldly connotations, however there may be additionally some scientific foundation to this description. The pineal gland is made up of pinealocytes, or neuron-like cells that synthesize melatonin and reply on to mild. Researchers have in contrast this to the retina of our eyes.
In some circumstances, scientists have even discovered holes within the pineal glands of sure fossil species. These holes look similar to eye sockets within the rear a part of the cranium, and permit mild to enter to enter on to the mind. Even now, some fashionable reptile and fish species nonetheless have a completely purposeful third eye. Take the tuatara, a kind of New Zealand lizard belonging to the Sphenodontidae household. The tuatara’s third eye even has its personal lens, retina, and cornea!
In mammals, there isn’t a proof of a 3rd eye that receives direct mild and is totally purposeful in the identical means as a reptile’s does. That stated, a mammal’s pinealocytes are identified to be immediately related to the retina, which helps regulate our sleep cycles by sending indicators all through the mind when mild ranges and patterns within the setting change. So, our pineal gland might be thought of extra of a metaphorical third eye, for those who’re it from a scientific standpoint.
The Seat of the Soul
Seventeenth-century thinker and scientist René Descartes had an curiosity in anatomy and physiology, notably the construction and performance of the pineal gland. He mentioned it in each of his books, through which he referred to it as “the principal seat of the soul and the place through which all our ideas are fashioned.”
Within the Treatise of Man (written in 1637 however not revealed till 1664), Descartes described these conceptual designs of man that solely consisted of two principal components: physique and soul. He believed the pineal gland was solely chargeable for connecting the 2. In his guide, he point out “a sure very small gland located in the midst of the mind’s substance and suspended above the passage by way of which the spirits within the mind’s anterior cavities talk with these in its posterior cavities”.
Descartes found that the pineal gland was one the one parts of the mind to exist as a single half slightly than one half of a pair and this is without doubt one of the causes he believed it to be so important. A lot of his anatomical analysis has been discredited, however this assertion nonetheless proves to be true.
Regardless, regardless of some errors in Descartes’ analysis, he was by far not alone in reaching these conclusions concerning the pineal gland. Many cultures all through historical past are in tune with its non secular significance, and activating it’s the foundation for a lot of historical non secular ceremonies, a few of which proceed to at the present time.
For instance, Hindus place a 3rd eye (bindi) on their foreheads to channel chakra power. In historical Egypt, the pineal glad was so extremely regarded that it was preserved individually throughout mummification. Even esoteric custom proclaimed the third eye as “the area between people and God”, pushing us to maximise our ethereal power and join us to the next dimension of consciousness, consciousness, unity, and love in a universe that’s a lot bigger than most of us understand.
In line with Dr. Joe Dispenza – D.C. and best-selling creator of Evolve Your Mind: The Science of Altering Your Thoughts (2007) and Breaking the Behavior of Being Your self: The best way to Lose Your Thoughts and Create a New One (2012), each of which element the neuroscience of change and epigenetics – if one prompts the pineal gland throughout meditation, non secular awakening is quickly to comply with.
“By squeezing the air we breathe by way of the facilities in our physique and visualizing the power to stay on the high of the top, the spinal fluid is pushed up the backbone all the way in which to the pineal gland. This prompts the pineal gland and the physique and thoughts rework from survival mode to that of creation. Mystical moments come as an aftermath.”
The place does cannabis come into play?
Once more, as a result of the pineal gland shouldn’t be hampered by the blood-brain barrier, it’s extremely delicate to psychoactive chemical substances. Though gentle, cannabis is a psychedelic drug by definition, or slightly, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is a psychedelic substance inside the cannabis plant.
Moreover, the rationale cannabinoids even have such widespread results on our our bodies is as a result of we come outfitted with an endocannabinoid system (ECS) – a collection of cells and receptors that serve quite a few completely different functions for our total well being and wellness.
Analysis on rats has additionally proven that the pineal gland incorporates a purposeful endocannabinoid system of its personal. This explicit research discovered that the exercise of the CB₁-receptors assorted based mostly on day by day cycles, with lowest exercise ranges occurring on the finish of the daylight interval. It additionally confirmed that ranges of NAPE-PLD, an enzyme chargeable for synthesizing new endocannabinoid molecules, was diminished in the course of the center of the low exercise interval. And eventually, the research mentioned the presence of THC diminished the exercise of one other enzyme often known as AANAT, and thus reduces the synthesis of melatonin itself.
This isn’t the primary time {that a} hyperlink between AANAT and THC was found although. An earlier research on rats discovered that THC diminished the exercise of AANAT through the next mechanism: “the neurotransmitter norepinephrine begins a cascade of reactions, the tip results of which is the manufacturing of melatonin. THC disrupts this norepinephrine cascade and thereby reduces the manufacturing of melatonin.”
This might point out that the pineal gland could be very profoundly impacted by cannabis, however there isn’t a out there analysis that tells us the total extent of this but.
Conclusion
Whether or not you consider within the non secular capabilities of the pineal gland or not, we do know that this gland exists in most residing creatures and it serves an extremely essential function in our bodily and emotional wellbeing, the total extent of which continues to be not totally identified.
We additionally know that the pineal gland could be very attentive to psychoactive medication, together with cannabis, and extra analysis is required to uncover the therapeutic potential of those substances working with varied components of the mind and physique, and the melatonin-producing pineal gland actually appears to be an essential a part of the equation.
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The statements made regarding these merchandise haven’t been evaluated by the Meals and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these merchandise has not been confirmed by FDA-approved evaluation. These merchandises are normally not meant to diagnose, take care of, treatment, or forestall any sickness. All knowledge discovered proper right here won’t be meant as another choice to or completely different from knowledge from well-being care practitioners. Please search the recommendation of your well-being care expert about potential interactions or completely different attainable points sooner than using any product. The Federal Meals, Drug and Magnificence Act requires this discovery.
