Referred to 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 thought to be extremely receptive to psychoactive medication, so what occurs to it once we use hashish?
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The Pineal Gland
The pineal gland, also referred to as the conarium or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland discovered within the brains of most vertebrates. Functionally, the pineal gland is thought for its manufacturing of melatonin, a hormone that regulates each circadian and seasonal sleep cycles. Spiritually, it’s generally known as the seat of the soul, the third eye, and the place the place our ideas are shaped and manifest into the universe round us… however extra on that somewhat bit later.
The identify, 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 by which capillaries are largely permeable to solutes within the blood.
One other characteristic that makes the pineal gland anatomically distinctive is that the pineal gland will not be separated from the remainder of the physique by the blood-brain barrier. That means, pineal gland will get plentiful blood flower instantly from the posterior cerebral artery, making it extra receptive to sure substances, similar to psychoactive medication like hashish.
The Third Eye, from a scientific standpoint
The thought 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 gentle. 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 gentle to enter to enter on to the mind. Even now, some fashionable reptile and fish species nonetheless have a completely useful 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 gentle and is totally useful in the identical means as a reptile’s does. That stated, a mammal’s pinealocytes are recognized to be instantly linked to the retina, which helps regulate our sleep cycles by sending alerts all through the mind when gentle ranges and patterns within the atmosphere change. So, our pineal gland will be thought-about extra of a metaphorical third eye, in the event you’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, significantly the construction and performance of the pineal gland. He mentioned it in each of his books, by which he referred to it as “the principal seat of the soul and the place by which all our ideas are shaped.”
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 answerable 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 means 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 quite 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 analysis has been discredited as we continued to study extra about anatomy and physiology, 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 in regards to the pineal gland. Many cultures all through historical past are in tune with its non secular significance, and activating the “third eye” is the idea for a lot of historic spiritual ceremonies, a few of which proceed to this present day.
For instance, Hindus place a 3rd eye (bindi) on their foreheads to channel chakra vitality. In historic Egypt, the pineal gland 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 vitality and join us to a better dimension of consciousness, consciousness, unity, and love in a universe that’s a lot bigger than most of us understand.
In accordance 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 right 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 observe.
“By squeezing the air we breathe by means of the facilities in our physique and visualizing the vitality to stay on the prime of the pinnacle, the spinal fluid is pushed up the backbone all the best way 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 hashish come into play?
Once more, as a result of the pineal gland will not be hampered by the blood-brain barrier, it’s extremely delicate to psychoactive chemical compounds. Though gentle, hashish is a psychedelic drug by definition, or quite, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is a psychedelic substance throughout the hashish 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 comprises a functional endocannabinoid system of its personal. This explicit research discovered that the exercise of the CB₁-receptors diversified based mostly on every day cycles, with lowest exercise ranges occurring on the finish of the daylight interval. It additionally confirmed that ranges of NAPE-PLD, an enzyme answerable for synthesizing new endocannabinoid molecules, was lowered throughout the center of the low exercise interval. And eventually, the research mentioned the presence of THC lowered the exercise of one other enzyme generally 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 study on rats discovered that THC lowered the exercise of AANAT by way of 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 may point out that the pineal gland could be very profoundly impacted by hashish, however there isn’t a accessible analysis that tells us the complete extent of this but.
Conclusion
Whether or not you imagine within the non secular features of the pineal gland or not, we do know that this gland exists in most residing creatures and it serves an extremely vital position in our bodily and emotional wellbeing, the complete extent of which remains to be not totally recognized.
We additionally know that the pineal gland could be very aware of psychoactive medication, together with hashish, 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 definitely appears to be an vital a part of the equation.
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