When we are not experiencing physical pain we, as individuals, call this condition comfort or happiness. We have acquired the habit of acknowledging mental distress as a neccessary evil and, too often, assume a "this too shall pass" stance. But, even if we do not show external signs of physical damage, the assault on that area of the brain designed to lighten our mental loads becomes apparent through the decline of value producing decisions made by individual members of the human race.
The weight of the adult pineal is variously given as fluctuating between 0.16 and 0.21 grams with a record of 1.0 gram reported. During the course of one lifetime, mineral deposits accumulate on the organ while cysts also form. Sometimes the surface is finely puckered due to the underlying concretions. Also mentioned in the medical texts is that fact that pineal cells proper appear to have emigrated to their present area from a less deep layer of the brain.
Indications of degeneration in the pineal are apparent very early in life and after the seventh to twelfth year increase with advancing age. The extremely wide range of variations in this organ are medically recognised as indicative of most organs that have passed their morphological peak and are destined for disappearance.