Pineal gland Flashcards
what is the pineal gland?
neuroendocrine gland.
What is produced in the pineal gland?
Melatonin
What innervation is given to the pineal gland?
Sympathetic
What two facors are commonly produced in pineal Germ Cell Tumors?
Alfa fetoprotein and chorionic gonadotropin hCG
The embryonal development of pineal gland is of extra interest. Describe it
The pineal gland develops during the second month of gestation as a diverticulum in the diencephalic roof of the third ventricle and is extra-axial.
In what cistern is the pineal gland hanging down??
In the quadrigeminal cistern
What important structures are surrounding the pineal gland?
anterior - third ventricle
superior - the internal cerebral veins and splenium of corpus callosum
inferior - tectum of midbrain.
Bilaterally - thalamus
How is the pineal gland innervated w sympathetic NA stimuli?
From the retino-suprachiasmatic-superior cervical ganglion - pineal gland pathway. pinealocytes transfer the signal to melatonin.
