Innervation of pineal gland by the nervus conarii: a review of this almost forgotten structure

Kion Gregory; Tyler Warner; Juan J Cardona; Arada Chaiyamoon; Joe Iwanaga; Aaron S Dumont; R Shane Tubbs

doi:10.5115/acb.23.037

Innervation of pineal gland by the nervus conarii: a review of this almost forgotten structure

Anat Cell Biol. 2023 Sep 30;56(3):304-307. doi: 10.5115/acb.23.037. Epub 2023 Aug 8.

Authors

Kion Gregory¹, Tyler Warner², Juan J Cardona³, Arada Chaiyamoon⁴, Joe Iwanaga^{3

5

6

7}, Aaron S Dumont⁸, R Shane Tubbs^{2

3

6

7

9

10

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Affiliations

¹ Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
² Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George's University, St. George's, Grenada.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁴ Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
⁵ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Anatomy, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁷ Department of Structural & Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁸ Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁹ Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosurgery and Ochsner Neuroscience Institute, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA, USA.
¹¹ University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

The nervus conarii provides sympathetic nerve innervation to the pineal gland, which is thought to be the primary type of stimulus to this gland. This underreported nerve has been mostly studied in animals. One function of the nervus conarii may be to activate pinealocytes to produce melatonin. Others have also found substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide from the nervus conarii ending in the pineal gland. The following paper reviews the extant medical literature on the nervus conarii including its anatomy and potential function.

Keywords: Anatomy; Innervation; Nervus conarii; Pineal gland; Review.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Funding None.