If we turn to science and what could induce human behavior, we find one portion of the brain that many have deemed the gateway to the soul.
René Descartes once described the pineal gland as “the principal seat of the soul.” Though medical knowledge has vastly progressed since then, here are a few things you might not have known about this critical organ. It was recognized as an important organ since the time of the ancient Greeks (130-210 CE).
Descartes was fascinated with the pineal gland, considering it “the place in which all our thoughts are formed.” Scientists now credit that function to the neocortex.
Descartes thought that within the pineal gland, "tiny animal spirits" were like “a very fine wind, or rather a very lively and pure flame,” feeding life into the many small arteries that surround the gland. This was likely due to his abysmal understanding of anatomy and physiology.
The pineal gland was commonly dubbed the "third eye" for many reasons, including its location deep in the center of the brain and its connection to light. Mystic and esoteric spiritual traditions suggest it serves as a metaphysical connection between the physical and spiritual worlds.
It is a tiny gland, located very deep in the center of the brain. It gets its name from its pine cone-like shape, (French pinéal, or "like a pine cone"), itself from the Latin for pine cone (pinea). However, at about one-third of an inch long in adults, it's smaller than your average pine cone.
Though located in your brain, the pineal gland is actually a crucial part of your endocrine system which regulates major bodily processes such as growth, metabolism, and sexual development through the release and control of hormones. The gland translates nerve signals from the sympathetic nervous system into hormone signals.
Because the pineal gland was the last of the endocrine structures to be discovered, scientists considered it a "mystery organ." Today, we know that unlike much of the rest of the brain, the pineal gland is not isolated from the body by the blood-brain barrier system.
As scientists have learned more about the functions of the pineal gland, they’ve learned it synthesizes the hormone melatonin from the neurotransmitter serotonin. Melatonin production determines your sleep-wake cycles and is purely determined by the detection of light and dark. The retina sends these signals to a brain region known as the hypothalamus, which passes them on to the pineal gland. The more light your brain detects, the less melatonin it produces, and vice versa. Melatonin levels are highest at night to help us sleep.
Melatonin inhibits the release of pituitary reproductive hormones, known as gonadotropins, from the pituitary gland, affecting male and female reproductive organs. In this way, melatonin—and therefore the pineal gland—regulates sexual development.
In the LOST mythology, many key plot points can be related back to the pineal gland: the gateway to the soul; the third eye (which connects to ancient Egyptian rituals); animal spirits (such as Hurley's bird or the smoke monster); and the hormonal relationship (sex) between male and female characters (including the fears, lack of growth or social development). There was also the cross-connection between the physical and metaphysical in regard to being in two places apparently at the same time (the island and the sideways world). Since the pineal is a center for both growth and metabolism, it is a life and death organ. Any disruption of the gland function can cause serious health problems.
Depression, peptic ulcers, and sexual dysfunction may be exacerbated by a deficiency of melatonin. Stress and dietary habits may lead to deficiencies of both serotonin and melatonin. Melatonin inhibits the release of cortisol via the release of vasotocin. Abnormal circadian rhythms of cortisol may occur in states of decreased melatonin. A circannual rhythm of melatonin has troughs associated with peaks in the incidence of peptic ulcers and psychotic depression.
The pineal gland secretes a single hormone—melatonin (not to be confused with the pigment melanin).
This simple hormone is special because its secretion is dictated by
light. Researchers have determined that melatonin has two primary
functions in humans—to help control your circadian (or biological)
rhythm and regulate certain reproductive hormones.
A body's circadian rhythm is a 24-hour biological cycle characterized
by sleep-wake patterns. Daylight and darkness help dictate your
circadian rhythm. Light exposure stops the release of melatonin, and in
turn, this helps control your circadian rhythms.
Melatonin secretion is low during the daylight hours and high
during dark periods, which has some influence over your reaction to
photoperiod (the length of day versus night). Naturally, photo period
affects sleep patterns, but melatonin’s degree of impact over sleep
patterns is disputed.
But the theme of dark vs. light was apparent in the LOST world. The fact that a person cannot sleep can lead to fatigue, memory loss, confusion and mental problems. When one's sleep pattern is disrupted to the point that the person cannot tell between day time and night time, serious brain function can be inhibited including memory and reason.
Pineal tumors may manifest symptoms from the blockage of the flow of fluids to the gland which can cause some of the common presenting symptoms of these tumors, which including headaches, nausea, vomiting, seizures, memory disturbances and visual changes. These elements were present in LOST by the fact that many characters saw non-island visions (Jack's father, Kate's horse), headaches and bloody noses to seizures (the island effect that killed Charlotte) and the memory losses (or lack of learning the characters showed during the island time).
In aging, the gland may begin to harden like calcium in the the development of teeth. Science studies indicate that this may cause memory loss or dementia.
If one was going to form a scientific theory to base the LOST premise, the pineal gland would be an good choice. The damage or disorder of the gland could explain many of the LOST elements. From that point, one could speculate that the main characters had pineal gland issues which caused memory disturbances and acute dementia. This could be the basis for any mental issue theory to explain the premise of LOST: the hidden mental states of group patients suffering from similar diseases, linked together by a trial study or protocol (the images of the Dharma institute probing them).
