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The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body [1] or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. It produces melatonin , a serotonin -derived hormone , which modulates sleep patterns following the diurnal cycles . [ 2 ]
In the first part of his work, Descartes ponders the relationship between the thinking substance and the body. For Descartes, the only link between these two substances is the pineal gland (art. 31), the place where the soul is attached to the body. The passions that Descartes studies are in reality the actions of the body on the soul (art. 25).
Descartes argued that signals passed from the ear and the eye to the pineal gland, through animal spirits. Thus different motions in the gland cause various animal spirits. He argued that these motions in the pineal gland are based on God's will and that humans are supposed to want and like things that are useful to them.
The more subtle parts of the blood go to the brain while the others descend through the vessels intended for generation. Cerebral blood produces in the pineal gland, a “very bright and very pure flame” called animal spirits. [6] The second part explains the movement. Descartes then uses the metaphor of a fountain.
However, Descartes believed that the physical body and the mind must be physically connected at some point. Descartes’ reasoning came from his observation that every structure of the brain is paired except for the pineal gland. He felt that the pineal gland must be the meeting point of the physical body and the mind, and therefore, the pineal ...
Illustration of mind–body dualism by René Descartes. Inputs are passed by the sensory organs to the pineal gland, and from there to the immaterial spirit. The mind–body problem is a philosophical problem concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness in the human mind and body. [1] [2]
As an elusive and unique part of the brain, the pineal gland has the longest history among the body organs as a structure of unknown function – it took almost two millennia to discover its biological roles. [1] Until the 20th century, it was recognised with a mixture of mysticism and scientific conjectures as to its possible nature. [2] [3]
Descartes' theory that interaction between the mind and the physical world occurred in the pineal gland was seen as inadequate by a number of philosophers in his era, who offered alternate views: Nicholas Malebranche suggested occasionalism, according to which mind and body appear to interact but are in fact moved separately by God, while ...