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- The pineal gland probably evolved from a third eye that functioned as a daylight sensor, based on evidence of the vestigialized parietal eye of the tuatara.
- The pineal gland is generally larger in animals living in colder regions
- The human pineal gland is around 150 mg, or the size of a soybean
- The rate of pineal calcification in humans is very high, found to be around 70%
- Pineal calcification also occurs widely across species
- Melatonin is produced by the mitochondria of the pineal gland
- The blood filtration rate is similar to that of the kidney, and it is hypothesized to filter blood for CSF. This could explain calcifiication
- Gerbils exposed to longer nights purportedly had higher rates of pineal calcification, implying that greater use could contribute to calcium buildup
- Calcium stress increases melatonin production by over 2.5 fold in mouse brain
- Melatonin levels of the CSF at night reach far higher levels than the blood in mice
- Melatonin promotes MSC differentiation into preosteoblasts, also increasing PTH and alkaline phosphatase. This could be a mechanistic explanation for the calcium concretion
- Three more theories on pineal calcification: pineal vascular inflammation, tissue hypoxia, high intracranial pressure
The pineal gland has been shown in animals to accumulate fluoride at 5-times higher concentrations than other brain tissues, and higher fluoride content is associated with higher calcification in humans - Higher calcification is associated with renal disease in hypertension in humans