5 senses that control a person. Five basic human senses

Incredible facts

How many senses does a person have?

Most people believe that we only have five senses, but others who are in the know know that there are no more, no less, but 21. So when you hear someone say they have a sixth sense, it's likely , this man is right, although this does not mean that he can see the future.

Having a wide range of feelings is an extremely surprising fact for many people until they realize that use them every day without even thinking about it.

Many of the human senses that we take for granted are incredibly important to the smooth functioning of our bodies.

Human sense organs

10. Feeling full

When we eat or drink enough, our body always lets us know. It turns out that this is a separate feeling in our body, which consists of its own set of sensitive receptors that tell us when to stop eating.

Some of them are the so-called “stretch receptors”, thanks to which we understand that the stomach is full.

The stomach, in turn, sends certain signals to the brain during the digestion of food. This means that if you eat your food slowly, you will feel full in the right amount of time and avoid overeating.

The opposite will happen if you eat the same amount of food, but in a short period of time, so our brain needs time to realize that we are full.

Types of human feelings

9. Thermoreception

The presence of this feeling is unlikely to come as a surprise to anyone, but it is important to note that the sensation of hot and cold is not part of our sense of touch, it is actually a separate sense.

Our thermo-receptors separate hot from cold and allow our bodies to adapt to changes in environmental temperature. Thermoreception signals work through the spinal cord, thus reaching the thalamus, to which they communicate the necessary information.

8. Feeling the amount of oxygen

The purpose of "peripheral chemoreceptors" is to monitor the movement of blood in the arteries, as well as monitor oxygen, carbon dioxide and pH levels. It is they who, if something happens, warn us that carbon dioxide level is too high, Thus, the human body automatically adjusts and breathes according to the “established norm.”

In addition, our body has special receptors that tell us how full of oxygen our lungs are, so our brain knows exactly when to inhale and exhale.

7. Trigger zone chemoreceptors

These receptors primarily interact with medications and hormones that our body carries through the bloodstream, in addition they are the ones that tell our body when it’s time to vomit if we suddenly feel nauseous.

If these receptors are damaged, it can lead to regular vomiting and sometimes a complete loss of the ability to vomit. This type of damage typically occurs after heart attacks.

6. Magnetoreception

Did you know that our body is potentially able to determine the direction of movement based on its sense of understanding the Earth's magnetic field?

Although there is still some debate regarding our ability to use this sense, it is clear that for navigation purposes it would be incredibly useful to apply it.

Some people, however, have an uncanny sense of direction and they can use magnetoreception at a higher level than the average person. Therefore, they can easily indicate, without using a compass, where is south and where is north.

This feeling is most pronounced in bees, some birds and cows.

5. Vestibular sense

The vestibular sense is also known as "equibrioception", which is more like the name of some hallucinogenic movie. People know this feeling as the “sense of balance.” Many of us have experienced the hard way, what is a violation of this feeling when drinking large amounts of alcohol.

Our sense of balance is regulated by the inner ear, and although it is part of the hearing system, it is still a separate sense.

4. Itching

In fact, this feeling is much more important than the usual itch you might think of. To begin with, from time to time itching appears completely separate from the sense of touch, and serves extremely important functions.

Although the sensation may initially seem more like a nuisance than a useful tool, itching is just as important as the sense of touch because it sends signals to the brain that There is something wrong with a certain part of the skin.

In some cases, it may simply be dryness; in others, it may be the presence of microscopic microbes hiding in the hair follicles, which are removed during the combing process.

A single itch sends a signal to the brain that you need to look at the affected area and find out what is happening to it.

3. Nociception

Nociception is the sense that helps us perceive pain. Some believe that this sense is part of the sense of touch, but in fact, pain is something completely different.

Moreover, many experts say that the feeling of pain should be broken down into three more “sub-feelings,” each of which is associated with different types of pain:

- pain associated with the skin;

Pain associated with bone tissue;

- pain felt by the organs of the body.

Although these seem more like subcategories than individual feelings, there is actually much more to the experience of pain than meets the eye.

If you do not feel pain, then this is a signal to the brain that there are serious disorders in your body, and that your body is in danger.

2. Chronoception

Chronoception is the sense of time. Most of us have it quite well developed, especially young people.

Part of this sense is controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which controls our circadian rhythms. Although a person's ability to perceive the passage of time is generally very useful, this feeling can be easily deceived, like any other.

Each of us has encountered situations when it seems to us that time is passing faster or slower than it actually does.

1. Proprioception

Proprioception is the awareness of where our hands and feet are in relation to the rest of the body. This is what police test when they test a driver by making him do things like touch the tip of his nose with his finger.

We all take this feeling for granted, but If he were taken away from us, we would really miss him.

However, there are still rare cases that are a mystery to doctors when a person loses this feeling. If this happens, then the easiest tasks, such as opening a door, picking up a cup, and others, become impossible.

Such people have to carefully monitor their every movement in order to use their limbs correctly.

Every person has heard about the sixth sense at least once in their life. This is a collective term. Or to be more precise, a colloquial definition. This is the name for any animal, even an animal that is not included in the main five. But this is too brief an explanation of the concept. The topic is interesting and there is a lot of interesting information about it. Well, it’s worth getting acquainted with it.

Scientific data

It is worth referring to official information before moving on to such a term as the sixth sense. It is important. And we will talk about the main ones. They represent a specialized peripheral anatomical and physiological system, which, through receptors, ensures the receipt and primary processing of information from the outside world.

Everyone knows that there are five human senses. Or, more precisely, organs. They are divided into remote (smell, hearing, vision) and direct (touch and taste). The first of these can perceive irritations at a distance. We can see what is hundreds of meters away from us, smell a smell coming from the kitchen, hear a scream from the street. But only through direct contact is a person able to recognize the taste of food and experience the tactile sensation of touch.

It is important to know that we receive 90% of all information through vision. The saying “It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times” becomes clear. But a person perceives about 9% of information by ear. And only 1% - with the help of other organs. But still, the five human senses are irreplaceable. If at least one is missing, then life will no longer seem complete.

"Third Eye"

This is what is also called the sixth sense. This is a very striking comparison. It allows us to roughly imagine the essence of this definition.

The sixth sense is a unique ability that allows you to sense the invisible world or another dimension. You can add to this list intuition, clairvoyance, premonition. A person with a developed sixth sense can sometimes perceive the causes and consequences of a certain event without realizing it. Without the use of experience, memory, reasoning and logic. A person simply receives information - it seems to appear in his head. Many people view this with skepticism. After all, how can information that is not based on logic be correct?

But skepticism may be unnecessary. And sometimes it’s better to listen to what your sixth sense says. A person's intuition rarely fails. Especially in any important or dangerous situations. How many times has this happened: a person felt uneasy in his soul, and as if something was telling him that he shouldn’t do this, it was better to prevent what was planned or act differently. But he ignores the message, after which he regrets with the thoughts “I felt it!”

Is it possible to develop a sixth sense?

Interesting question. And relevant. Many people, having learned what a person’s sixth sense is, are eager to acquire such a unique ability. It is believed that for some it exists from birth. Even if the person has not engaged in spiritual practice. They say this is because such people have reached a certain level in a past life.

It is possible to develop a sixth sense. To do this, you need to become less of a rationalist, expand your own worldview, become open to new knowledge and more attentive. Maybe dreams are visions? Or thoughts that come to mind while looking for a solution to a problem, but seem completely out of place? A person who has intuition, a sixth sense, is the same as others. Only he does not set boundaries and boundaries for himself in thinking. And therefore he grows spiritually.

Our brain generates up to 60 thousand (!) thoughts every day. And most of them (about 95%) are outdated information. It could have been stored in the brain yesterday. Or even a couple of years ago. Every person has noticed at least once how a long-forgotten memory suddenly appeared in his head. Or a strange thought - for no reason at all. All this is called mental garbage. To get rid of it, you need to develop intuition, with the help of which you can clear your consciousness. Mental garbage drowns out inner instincts. By getting rid of it, you will be able to hear the call of your sixth sense more clearly.

Training methods

One of the most famous researchers of intuition is José Silva. He is also the author of the program for the development of the sixth sense, which is based on the four rhythms of the human brain. These are "alpha", "beta", "theta" and "delta". The technique is aimed at developing not only the ability to pay attention to the signals that consciousness already sends to a person. You can learn to control your memory, easily get out of difficult situations, and achieve success faster.

The scientist assures that success can be achieved if you meditate daily. Relaxation allows you to clear your mind, get rid of stress and prepare your mind to receive the maximum amount of information. While meditating with your eyes closed, you should try to visualize the place in which you feel free. You need to remember all the details - the smell around you, the weather, the landscape around you.

And before you go to bed, you need to think about unresolved issues and problems, as well as ways to solve them. This way you can activate your imagination. And in the process of sleep, a decision may come to a person from the subconscious.

On rational intuition

The subconscious is an interesting thing. Intuition, also called the sixth sense, is the ability to understand what is happening instantly, without conscious control.

They say that an experienced eye sees more, unlike the eyes of beginners. A person who has been engaged in a certain activity for years can judge many things without any logic. It's just based on experience. And often intuitively, unconsciously. This has happened to every person at least once in their life. When a journalist types text in a document, he automatically places punctuation marks and arranges his material according to a certain structure. And if you ask him why in this sentence he put a comma before this word, he will think about it. And it’s not a fact that he will answer. He has been engaged in his activities for so long that he simply does not need to explain the rule. That's how it should be - that's all. And this statement is based on experience.

Or take, for example, experienced aircraft designers. Having seen the plane, they can immediately, without calculations, determine its approximate flight characteristics and prospects. When selecting students for a group, the choreographer will immediately understand who has a dance future and who does not. There are a lot of examples that can be given, but the essence is the same.

What do scientists say?

Many people are of great interest to a person's sixth sense. The evidence for its existence is highly controversial. Again, there is too much skepticism about this topic. But a few years ago the news broke - scientists found a sixth sense gene in people! And this, as American experts have assured, is proprioception. They used this term to describe a person’s ability to sense the position of body parts relative to each other in space. Its loss can negatively affect speech, coordination, even the ability to walk.

About the opening

This statement was made by a pediatric neurologist named Carsten Bennemann. The specialist is on the staff of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which is located in the USA. He observed two patients with similar symptoms. One was 9 and the other was 19 years old. Both suffered from scoliosis, had difficulty walking, and had insensitive skin. And the limbs were strangely bent.

The scientist conducted some tests. We managed to find out that the girls walk normally and touch their nose only with their eyes open. In the absence of visual control, none of the above could be done. They didn't even feel the touch. Only pain and fever.

Thus, Karsten found out that they do not have a sixth sense. They are not aware of their limbs in space. This can be partially compensated for by vision. To be more precise, these girls would not be able to instinctively change gears while driving a car, type text without looking at the keyboard, or play a musical instrument. And all because of a rare and severe mutation of the PIEZO2 gene, which is associated with tactile sensations.

Humans have five basic senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. The sensory organs associated with each sense send information to the brain to help us understand the world around us. In addition to the basic five, people also have other senses. Here's how they work.

Touch

Touch is considered the first sense that a person develops. It consists of several different sensations transmitted to the brain through specialized neurons in the skin. Pressure, temperature, light touch, vibration, pain and other sensations are part of the sensory experience and are all attributed to different receptors on the skin.

Touch is not just a sense used to interact with the world; it also appears to be very important for human well-being.

The sense of touch can also influence how people make decisions. Texture can be associated with abstract concepts, and touching something can influence a person's decisions, according to six studies by psychologists from Harvard University and Yale University published in the journal Science on June 24, 2010.

These tactile sensations do not just change the general orientation, but create a mood. They have a certain connection with certain abstract meanings."

Vision

Looking, or perceiving things through the eyes, is a complex process. First, light is reflected from the object to the eye. The transparent outer layer of the eye, called the cornea, bends light passing through the opening of the pupil. The iris (which is the colored part of the eye) acts like a camera shutter, retracting to shut out light or opening wider to let in more light.

The cornea focuses most of the light, and then the light passes through the lens, which continues to focus the light.

The eye's lens then bends the light and focuses it onto the retina, which is full of nerve cells. These cells are shaped like rods and cones and are named after their shapes. Cones translate light into colors, central vision, and details. Rods translate light into peripheral vision and movement. The rods also give people vision when there is limited light, such as at night. Information translated from the light is sent as electrical impulses to the brain through the optic nerve.

Even in cases of profound blindness, the brain works in such a way as to use the information at its disposal so that it can interact more effectively with its environment.

Hearing

This sense works through the complex labyrinth that is the human ear. Sound is directed through the outer ear and into the external auditory canal. The sound waves then reach the eardrum. It is a thin sheet of connective tissue that vibrates when sound waves hit it.

Vibrations move to the middle ear. There the auditory ossicles vibrate - three tiny bones called the malleus, incus and stirrup. The latter, in turn, pushes a structure called the oval window and sends vibrations to the organ of Corti. This spiral organ is the receptor organ for hearing. Tiny hair cells in it translate vibrations into electrical impulses. The impulses then travel to the brain through sensory nerves.

People maintain their sense of balance because the eustachian tube in the middle ear equalizes the air pressure in the middle ear with the air pressure in the atmosphere. The vestibular complex in the inner ear is also important for balance as it contains receptors that regulate the sense of balance. The inner ear is connected to the vestibulocochlear nerve, which transmits sound and balance information to the brain.

Smell

According to researchers, humans can smell more than 1 trillion aromas. They do this with the olfactory fissure, which is on the roof of the nasal cavity, next to the "olfactory" part of the brain, the olfactory bulb and fossa. Nerve endings in the olfactory cleft transmit odors to the brain.

Dogs are known for their good sense of smell, but research shows that humans are just as good at it as man's best friend. A study published in the journal Science on May 11, 2017, suggests that humans can distinguish 1 trillion different odors; It was once believed that humans could only perceive 10,000 different smells.

Humans have 400 olfactory receptors. It's not as much as some animals, but the much more complex human brain makes up the difference.

In fact, poor smelling ability in humans can be a symptom of illness or aging. For example, a distorted or reduced ability to smell is a symptom of schizophrenia and depression. Old age can also reduce your ability to smell. More than 75% of people over 80 years of age may have severe olfactory impairment.

Taste

This sense is usually divided into the perception of four different tastes: salty, sweet, sour and bitter. There is also a fifth taste, defined as umami. There may be many other flavors that have not yet been discovered. Also, the spicy taste is not what it is.

The sense of taste helped in human evolution because it helped people test the food they ate. A bitter or sour taste indicated that the plant might be poisonous or rotten. Something salty or sweet, however, often means the food is rich in nutrients.

Taste is sensed by taste buds. Adults have between 2,000 and 4,000 taste buds. Most of them are on the tongue, but they also affect the back of the throat, epiglottis, nasal cavity and esophagus. The sensory cells on the kidneys form capsules in the shape of flower buds or oranges. The tips of these capsules have pores that act like funnels containing tiny taste hairs. The proteins on them are associated with cells for tasting.

It is a myth that the tongue has special zones for each taste. The five tastes can be felt on all parts of the tongue, although the sides are more sensitive than the middle. About half of the sensory cells in taste buds respond to several of the five basic tastes. Cells differ in their level of sensitivity. Each of them has a specific palette of tastes with a fixed ranking, so some cells may be more sensitive to sweet, followed by bitter, sour and salty, while others have their own ranking. The full experience of taste is produced only after all the information from the different parts of the tongue has been combined.

The other half of the sensory cells are specialized to respond to only one taste. Their job is to convey information about intensity - like salty or sweet taste.

Other factors help shape the brain's perception of taste. For example, the smell of food greatly influences how the brain perceives taste. Smells are sent to the mouth in a process called olfactory referral. This is why a stuffy nose may have trouble tasting food properly. Texture, translated by the sense of touch, also contributes to taste.

Sense of space

In addition to the traditional big five, there is also a feeling that concerns how your brain understands where your body is. This one is called proprioception.

Proprioception involves the sense of movement and position of our limbs and muscles. For example, proprioception allows a person to touch the tip of their nose with a finger even when their eyes are closed. This allows a person to climb the steps without having to look at each one. People with poor proprioception may be clumsy and uncoordinated.

People who have particularly poor proprioception through mechanosensation—the ability to sense force, such as the feeling of someone pressing on your skin—may have a mutated gene that is passed down through generations.

Additional feelings and variations

There are more subtle feelings that most people never perceive. For example, there are neural sensors that sense motion to control balance and head tilt. Specific kinesthetic receptors exist to detect stretches in muscles and tendons, helping people monitor their limbs. Other receptors detect oxygen levels in certain arteries of the bloodstream.

Sometimes people don't even process feelings the same way. For example, people with may see sounds as colors or associate certain sights with smells.

Sense organs are specialized structures through which parts of the brain receive information from the internal or external environment. With their help, a person is able to perceive the world around him.

Sense organs - afferent (receptive) section of the analyzer system. The analyzer is the peripheral part of the reflex arc, which communicates between the central nervous system and the environment, receives irritation and transmits it through pathways to the cerebral cortex, where information is processed and sensation is formed.

5 human senses

How many primary senses does a person have?

In total, a person usually has 5 senses. Depending on their origin, they are divided into three types.

• The organs of hearing and vision come from the embryonic neural plate. These are neurosensory analyzers, they belong to first type.
• The organs of taste, balance and hearing develop from epithelial cells, which transmit impulses to neurocytes. These are sensory epithelial analyzers and belong to second type.
• Third type includes peripheral parts of the analyzer that sense pressure and touch.

Visual analyzer

The main structures of the eye: the eyeball and auxiliary apparatus (eyelids, muscles of the eyeball, lacrimal glands).

The eyeball has an oval shape, is attached by ligaments, and can move with the help of muscles. Consists of three shells: outer, middle and inner. Outer shell (sclera)- this protein shell of an opaque structure surrounds the surface of the eye by 5/6. The sclera gradually passes into the cornea (it is transparent), which makes up 1/6 of the outer shell. The transition area is called the limb.

Middle shell consists of three parts: the choroid, the ciliary body and the iris. The iris has a colored color, in the center of it there is a pupil, thanks to its expansion and contraction, the flow of light to the retina is regulated. In bright light, the pupil narrows, and in low light, on the contrary, it expands to catch more light rays.

Inner shell- this is the retina. The retina is located at the bottom of the eyeball and provides light and color perception. The photosensory cells of the retina are rods (about 130 million) and cones (6-7 million). Rod cells provide twilight vision (black and white), cones serve for daytime vision and color discrimination. The eyeball contains a lens and chambers of the eye (anterior and posterior).

The value of the visual analyzer

With the help of the eyes, a person receives about 80% of information about the environment, distinguishes colors and shapes of objects, and is able to see even with minimal light. The accommodative apparatus makes it possible to maintain clarity of objects when looking into the distance or reading closely. Auxiliary structures protect the eye from damage and contamination.

Hearing analyzer

The organ of hearing includes the outer, middle and inner ear, which perceive sound stimuli, generate an impulse and transmit it to the temporal cortex. The auditory analyzer is inseparable from the organ of balance, so the inner ear is sensitive to changes in gravity, vibration, rotation, and movement of the body.

Outer ear It is divided into the auricle, auditory canal and eardrum. The auricle is an elastic cartilage with a thin ball of skin that detects sound sources. The structure of the external auditory canal includes two parts: cartilaginous at the beginning and bone. Inside there are glands that produce sulfur (has a bactericidal effect). The eardrum perceives sound vibrations and transmits them to the structures of the middle ear.

Middle ear includes the tympanic cavity, inside which are located the hammer, stirrup, incus and Eustachian tube (connects the middle ear with the nasal part of the pharynx, regulates pressure).

Inner ear It is divided into a bony and membranous labyrinth, with perilymph flowing between them. The bony labyrinth has:

• vestibule;
• three semicircular canals (located in three planes, provide balance, control the movement of the body in space);
• cochlea (it contains hair cells that perceive sound vibrations and transmit impulses to the auditory nerve).

The value of the auditory analyzer

Helps to navigate in space, distinguishing noises, rustles, sounds at different distances. With its help, information is exchanged when communicating with other people. From birth, a person, hearing oral speech, learns to speak. If congenital hearing impairment occurs, the child will not be able to speak.

The structure of the human olfactory organs

The receptor cells are located at the back of the upper nasal passages. Perceiving odors, they transmit information to the olfactory nerve, which delivers it to the olfactory bulbs of the brain.

With the help of smell, a person determines the good quality of food, or senses a threat to life (carbon smoke, toxic substances), pleasant aromas lift the mood, the smell of food stimulates the production of gastric juice, promoting digestion.

Organs of taste

On the surface of the tongue there are papillae - these are taste buds, on the apical part of which there are microvilli that perceive taste.

The sensitivity of receptor cells to food products is different: the tip of the tongue is susceptible to sweets, the root to bitter, the central part to salty. Through nerve fibers, the generated impulse is transmitted to the overlying cortical structures of the taste analyzer.

Organs of touch

A person can perceive the world around him through touch, with the help of receptors on the body, mucous membranes, and muscles. They are able to distinguish temperature (thermoreceptors), pressure levels (baroreceptors), and pain.

Nerve endings have high sensitivity in the mucous membranes and earlobe, and, for example, the sensitivity of receptors in the back area is low. The sense of touch makes it possible to avoid danger - to remove your hand from a hot or sharp object, determines the degree of pain threshold, and signals an increase in temperature.

Somehow I thought about how to make my memory work better and not have to turn to specialists to remember the most important moments in life.

And I realized that it is necessary to use all channels of perception - vision, hearing, smell, taste, sensations, feelings - then the events will leave a vivid trace in the memory.

Moreover, such memories are treasures for the soul.

Perceiving events with all the senses allows you to live life to the fullest, and it is they who turn simple moments of life into treasures.

In this article I want to suggest ways how to develop 5 senses, improve information perception and saturate life with new emotions.

I suggest starting every day with the motto: I am discovering this wonderful world around me!

It is necessary to pay attention and conduct small studies.

Development of the 5 senses: 5 simple and effective exercises

1. Development of visual perception: treat your eyes

Remember the expression “the eye pleases”? This is usually said when something is pleasant to look at.

It is important to please yourself and expand your visual perception. These may not be new things, but when you begin to consciously pay attention to things - their volume, color, texture, unusualness and uniqueness - this triggers a reaction in the brain

“yeah, how many different things I see” - “seeing is wonderful!”

Ask yourself: what pleases my eyes? What do I enjoy looking at?

It can also be a beautiful sunset, when the sun glows crimson.

And how the river flows, bypassing the rapids.

And the movement of ears of wheat on the field.

In addition, to develop visual perception, notice the details of the world around you:

• what is the name of the seller in the store,
• how many columns does the building you pass by on your way to work have?
• what pattern is laid out on the tiles in the store?

The question is: how to bring back the joy and spring of life?

Let's think, if the center of sensory perception is our heart, then the antennas that saturate it are our fingers, skin, ears, eyes, nose, tongue.

This means that the more we please ourselves, allow ourselves to see and hear beauty, discover the whole spectrum of tastes and smells - the more we feel this world, we feel happy.

Why pay attention to your feelings?

Feelings are what constitute the experience of the soul and the richness of our lives.

Feelings are directly related to memory. Feelings are the instrument of the soul. What remains with us from life to life.

They influence us so much that sometimes it is difficult for those who have a lot of pain and experiences to remember their childhood; memory blocks such memories and acts as a fuse.

Good news: the sensory perception of life can be restored.

Remember what you loved to do as a child, and what brought you a lot of joy, fun and enthusiasm?

Plunge into childhood memories and, with childlike spontaneity and the excitement of a researcher, look at the world in a new way.

I would like to finally quote one thinker:

He who can fill every moment with deep content prolongs his life endlessly.

P.S. I am sure you will find practical application for this information.

I would be grateful if you share this article with your friends.

Write what feeling you will develop today.