The pineal gland

The first thing I noticed was that he never looked me in the eye.

- Dr MAZDA TUREL

Not out of shyness. Not out of teenage indifference, which is a diagnosis in itself. He simply couldn’t look up. He was 16, bright, funny, and increasingly frustrated by headaches, nausea, and difficulty reading the blackboard at school. His parents had noticed something peculiar: whenever someone called his name, he moved his entire head instead of only his eyes. “Look at the ceiling,” I said. He tried. His eyes barely moved.

Deep within the centre of the brain, a tiny tumour in the pineal region was quietly causing havoc. By blocking the cerebral aqueduct—the narrow channel through which cerebrospinal fluid flows—it had produced hydrocephalus, increasing pressure within the brain. At the same time, it had compressed the centres responsible for vertical gaze, producing a classic condition called Parinaud’s syndrome. In simple terms, the boy who should have been looking up at the future could no longer physically look up at all.