AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Your pineal gland’s main job is to help control the circadian cycle of sleep and wakefulness by secreting melatonin. The pineal gland is shaped like a tiny pinecone, which is how it got its name (“pine”-al gland).

Detailed explanation-2: -Melatonin is the only known hormone synthesized by the pineal gland and is released in response to darkness hence the name, “hormone of darkness” [10]. Melatonin provides a circadian and seasonal signal to the organisms in vertebrates.

Detailed explanation-3: -The main function of the pineal gland is to receive information about the state of the light-dark cycle from the environment and convey this information by the production and secretion of the hormone melatonin.

Detailed explanation-4: -Pineal hormones Both melatonin and its precursor, serotonin, which are derived chemically from the alkaloid substance tryptamine, are synthesized in the pineal gland. Along with other brain sites, the pineal gland may also produce neurosteroids.

Detailed explanation-5: -It is a pinecone-shaped small gland located in the middle of the human brain in between the two hemispheres in an area called epithalamus. It was once known as “the third eye”.