Pineal gland

is not extended, the body occupies space. The soul is immaterial, the body is material. And yet, "the soul is united to all parts of the body together". To account for this phenomenon, Descartes posits the existence of a small gland that lies in the brain, called pineal gland. The latter plays the junction point between the soul and body. It allows the soul to receive…

Sleep constitutes a major portion of our daily lives. During each night, the average person cycles through Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM sleep multiple times before waking. However, hours before we succumb to sleep, our bodies are already hard at work producing hormones that encourage sleep. Many biological factors influence the quality of sleep we experience and one of significant importance is the hormone melatonin. Melatonin plays two major roles in the physiology of sleep. Its first role is to…

They assume that the soul/spirit can be located in a particular place (such as the pineal gland discussed earlier), to which Conway disagrees because “spirit is body and body is spirit.” Secondly, she argues that dualism only leads to mechanism because it has such a hard demarcation between the soul and the body, which entails the body to…

The role of the endocrine system is the production of hormones; they consist of a collection of glands which secrete special chemicals to function different parts of the body. Endocrine glands release their chemical messengers into the bloodstream; this is where the circulatory system is involved in the process. On the cells of organs are customized receptors, these receptors immediately recognise…

the mind and body. For example; I should know when I am hungry or thirsty without needing a warning or being confused about it. Descartes’ says the pineal gland is where the confused or warning thoughts are housed (pg. 97-98 para 1). Descartes’ solution isn’t a solution because it raises the question of how do the mind and body interact in the pineal gland? Nagel illustrates the mind-body problem into his essay by saying if we can only see what it is like to be that organism through one view…

correlates with the human senses such as touch, taste and sight. Integration of data occurs in the brain only once the brain has processed the information and is then responsible for distributing this data from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands which results in motor output. The brain and spinal cord are the main anatomical features of the nervous system which is comprised of two major parts, the…

We all take advantage of sleep and think of it, at times, as a luxury more than a physiological and psychological necessity. Edwards, O’Dreiscoll, et al, in their paper over Aging and Sleep: Physiology and Pathophysiology, simply defined sleep as a natural state characterized by a reduction in voluntary motor activity (skeletal muscle movement) but not involuntary activity (heart, lungs, organs, etc.), and a decreased response to stimulation and stereotypic posture that is both reversible and…

the mind must interact with some part of the body. Specifically, Descartes claim the pineal gland was responsible for this mind and body connection. His compatriots of philosophy, Princess Elisabeth included, did not find this answer satisfactory and knowledge of human anatomy concurs that the pineal gland has no special ability to interact with an intangible…

Dualism has been the centre theory for the philosophy of mind since the adaptation of Plato’s original ideas about the world and the metaphysical world. However, with the fast paced development of modern age Science and further post enlightenment philosophy. There have been a number of challenges to Descartes’ position; such as the ontological reduction of the mind to the brain proposed by Mind-Brain Identity Theory. Descartes’ is known for his enlightenment, rationalist philosophy. Perhaps his…

as pain, stress, and emotional experiences. (1) 2 Pituitary gland – the “master endocrine gland” because it secretes many hormones that control other endocrine glands. It is a “pea-shaped structure that attaches to the hypothalamus by a stalk. The pituitary gland contains an anterior lobe called the anterior pituitary that function to secrete hormones that regulate bodily activities from growth to reproduction. 3. anterior pituitary gland – secrete hormones that…