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Humans have significantly more senses than previously thought. The Conversation writes about this, UNN reports.
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It is noted that, stuck in front of screens, we often ignore our senses, except for hearing and sight. And yet they are always working. When we are more attentive, we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, the softness of bread. In the morning, we can feel the tingling of toothpaste, hear and feel the stream of water in the shower, smell the shampoo, and later – the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Aristotle told us there were five senses. But he also told us the world was made of five elements, and we no longer believe that. And modern research shows that we may actually have dozens of senses
It is indicated that almost all of our experience is multisensory. We do not see, hear, smell, and touch separately. Senses arise simultaneously in a single perception of the surrounding world and ourselves. What we feel affects what we see, and what we see affects what we hear.
Different shampoo scents can affect how you perceive hair texture. For example, the scent of rose makes hair silky. Scents in fat-free yogurts can make them taste richer and thicker without adding more emulsifiers. The perception of smells in the mouth, rising to the nasal passage, is changed by the viscosity of the liquids we consume
According to Professor Charles Spence from the Crossmodal Laboratory in Oxford, there are between 22 and 33 senses. These include proprioception, which allows us to know where our limbs are without looking at them. Our sense of balance relies on the vestibular system of the ear canals, as well as on vision and proprioception.
Another example is interoception, through which we feel changes in our own body, such as a slight increase in heart rate and hunger. We also have a sense of our own will when we move our limbs: a feeling that can disappear in patients who have had a stroke, and sometimes they even believe that someone else is moving their hand
Traditional senses also turn out to be more complex than they seem. For example, touch includes not only skin contact, but also pain, temperature, itching, and pressure. Taste is a combination of signals from tongue receptors, smell, and touch. That is why fruit flavors cannot be reduced to a simple combination of sweet, sour, or bitter: we do not have “raspberry receptors,” and the perception of such flavors is largely formed by smell.
Vision is affected by our vestibular system. When you are on board an airplane on the ground, look down into the cabin. Look again when you are ascending. It will “seem” to you as if the front of the cabin is higher than it actually is, although optically everything is in the same relation to you as on the ground. What you “see” is the combined effect of vision and your ear canals, which tells you that you are moving backward
The authors conclude that human senses are not a set of separate “channels,” and suggest that the next time you go outside or enjoy a meal, take a moment to appreciate how your senses work together.
Recall
Scientists at Cambridge University found that the human brain goes through five key phases of development, with adolescence lasting until age 32.
