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Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. PSYCHOLOGY In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. ...
Neuroscience is a field of study that deals with the structure, function, development, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system, consisting of the myriad nerve pathways running throughout the body. ...
Cognitive psychology is the psychological science that studies cognition, the mental processes that underlie behavior, including thinking, reasoning, decision making, and to some extent motivation and emotion. ...
Rendering of human brain based on MRI data Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ...
The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver. ...
Definition of "sense"
There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to exactly how many senses there are, because of differing definitions of a sense. In general, one can say that a "sense" is a faculty by which outside stimuli are perceived. School children are routinely taught that there are five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste; a classification first devised by Aristotle), though it is generally agreed that there are at least nine different senses in humans, and a minimum of two more observed in other organisms. Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotelēs 384–March 7 322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ...
A broadly acceptable definition of a sense would be "a system that consists of a sensory cell type (or group of cell types) that respond to a specific kind of physical energy, and that correspond to a defined region (or group of regions) within the brain where the signals are received and interpreted." Where disputes arise is with regard to the exact classification of the various cell types and their mapping to regions of the brain.
List of Human senses Using this definition several senses can be identified.
Based on this outline and depending on the chosen method of classification, somewhere between 9 and 21 human senses have been identified. In addition, there are some other candidate physiological experiences which may or may not fall within the above classification (for example the sensory awareness of hunger and thirst). Finally, some individuals report synesthesia, the "crossing-over" of one sense to another, or even of senses associated with certain pure concepts. For example, the letter "A" may appear "black," certain notes may seem "orange" or "blue," and so forth. Note: there is also an industrial music band called Synæsthesia. ...
Sight or vision describes the ability to detect electromagnetic waves within the visible range (light) by the eye and the brain to interpret the image as "sight." There is disagreement as to whether this constitutes one, two or even three distinct senses. Neuroanatomists generally regard it as two senses, given that different receptors are responsible for the perception of colour (the frequency of photons of light) and brightness (amplitude/intensity - number of photons of light). Some argue that the perception of depth also constitutes a sense, but it is generally regarded that this is really a cognitive (that is, post-sensory) function of brain to interpret sensory input to derive new information. In medicine, Special senses is the term used to describe the senses of vision, hearing, taste, and smell. ...
Visual perception is one of the senses, consisting of the ability to detect light and interpret (see) it as the perception known as eyesight, sight or naked eye vision. ...
Prism splitting light Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific context, electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths that are studied in the field of optics. ...
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Comparative brain sizes In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for in the head), is the control center of the central nervous system. ...
Hearing or audition is the sense of sound perception and results from tiny hair fibres in the inner ear detecting the motion of a membrane which vibrates in response to changes in the pressure exerted by atmospheric particles within (at best) a range of 9 to 20000 Hz, however this changes for each individual. Sound can also be detected as vibrations conducted through the body by tactition. Lower and higher frequencies than can be heard are detected this way only. Hearing, or audition, is one of the traditional five senses, and refers to the ability to detect sound. ...
A schematic representation of hearing. ...
A human girls ear An ear is the organ used by an animal to detect sound waves. ...
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Taste or gustation is one of the two main "chemical" senses. It is well-known that there are at least four types of taste "bud" (receptor) on the tongue and hence, as should now be expected, there are anatomists who argue that these in fact constitute four or more different senses, given that each receptor conveys information to a slightly different region of the brain. Taste is one of the most common and fundamental of the senses of animals. ...
Many animals have longer and more flexible tongues than humans. ...
The four well-known receptors detect sweet, salt, sour, and bitter, although the receptors for sweet and bitter have not been conclusively identified. A fifth receptor, for a sensation called umami, was first theorised in 1908 and its existence confirmed in 2000 (see [1]). The umami receptor detects the amino acid glutamate, a flavor commonly found in meat, and in artificial flavourings such as monosodium glutamate. Human taste sensory organs, called taste buds or gustatory calyculi, and concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue, appear to be receptive to relatively few chemical species as tastes. ...
In chemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that contains both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. ...
Smell or olfaction is the other "chemical" sense. Unlike taste, there are hundreds of olfactory receptors, each binding to a particular molecular feature, according to current theory. The combination of features of the odor molecule makes up what we perceive as the molecule's smell. In the brain, olfaction is processed by the olfactory system. Olfactory receptor neurons in the nose differ from most other neurons in that they die and regenerate on a regular basis. Olfaction, the sense of odor (smell), is the detection of chemicals dissolved in air (or, by animals that breathe water, in water). ...
The olfactory system is the sensory system used for olfaction. ...
An olfactory receptor neuron, also called an olfactory sensory neuron, is the primary transduction cell for olfaction in the olfactory system. ...
Human nose in profile You may be looking for Nose, a town in Japan, or The Nose, a story by Nikolai Gogol and an opera by Dmitri Shostakovich. ...
If the different taste-senses are not regarded as separate senses one may argue that Taste and Smell should likewise be grouped together as one sense.
Touch or tactition is the sense of pressure perception, generally in the skin. There are a variety of pressure receptors that respond to variations in pressure (firm, brushing, sustained, etc). In medicine, the colloquial term touch is usually replaced with somatic senses, to better reflect the variety of mechanisms involved. ...
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This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
A section of Human Skin In zootomy and dermatology, skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of a layer of tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs. ...
Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold), also by the skin and including internal skin passages. There is some disagreement about how many senses this actually represents - the thermoceptors in the skin are quite different from the homeostatic thermoceptors which provide feedback on internal body temperature. Thermoception or thermoreception is the sense by which an organism perceives temperature. ...
A section of Human Skin In zootomy and dermatology, skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of a layer of tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs. ...
Homeostasis is the property of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment to maintain a stable, constant condition, by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments, controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms. ...
Nociception is the perception of pain. It can be classified as from one to three senses, depending on the classification method. The three types of pain receptors are cutaneous (skin), somatic (joints and bones) and visceral (body organs). For a considerable time, it was believed that pain was simply the overloading of pressure receptors, but research in the first half of the 20th century indicated that pain is a distinct phenomenon that intertwines with all other senses, including touch. Pain is both a sensory and emotional experience, generally associated tissue damage, or inflammation. ...
Other Equilibrioception is the perception of balance and is related to cavities containing fluid in the inner ear. There is some disagreement as to whether this also includes the sense of "direction" or orientation. However, as with depth perception earlier, it is generally regarded that "direction" is a post-sensory cognitive awareness. Equilibrioception or sense of balance is one of the physiological senses. ...
Proprioception is the perception of body awareness and is a sense that people rely on enormously, yet are frequently not aware of. More easily demonstrated than explained, proprioception is the "unconscious" awareness of where the various regions of the body are located at any one time. (This can be demonstrated by anyone's closing the eyes and waving the hand around. Assuming proper proprioceptive function, at no time will the person lose awareness of where the hand actually is, even though it is not being detected by any of the other senses). Proprioception (from Latin proprius, meaning ones own and perception) is the sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring parts of the body. ...
Non-human senses
Analogous to human senses Other living organisms have receptors to sense the world around them, including many of the senses listed above for humans. However, the mechanisms and capabilities vary widely. - Smell: Among non-human animals, dogs have a much keener sense of smell than humans, although the mechanism is similar. Insects have olfactory receptors on their antennae.
- Vision: Pit vipers and some boas have organs that allow them to detect infrared light, such that these snakes are able to sense the body heat of their prey. The common vampire bat may also have an infrared sensor on its nose (see here). Infrared senses, are however, just sight in a different frequency range.
- Balance: Ctenophores have a balance receptor (a statocyst) that works very differently from the mammalian semi-circular canals.
Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is about the domestic dog. ...
Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ...
Antennae (singular antenna), are the paired appendages connecting to the first (and in crustaceans also to the second) segment of the head of the members of all subphyla of the arthropods except Chelicerata. ...
Genera See text. ...
BoA (권보아 Kwon, Boa, born in November 5, 1986) is a Korean pop music singer. ...
Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of microwave radiation. ...
Binomial name Desmodus rotundus Geoffroy, 1810 The Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus) is a species of Vampire bats. ...
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
The statocyst is a balance organ present in some aquatic invertebrates (Cnidarians, Ctenophores, Bilaterians). ...
Not analogous to human senses In addition, some animals have senses that humans do not, including the following:
Magnetoception (or "magnetoreception") is the ability to detect fluctuations in magnetic fields and is most commonly observed in birds, though it has also been observed in insects such as bees. Although there is no dispute that this sense exists in many avians (it is essential to the navigational abilities of migratory birds), it is not a well-understood phenomenon (see [2]). Recently, however, special implants have granted humans this ability too (see [3]). Magnetoception (or magnetoreception) is the ability to detect flux direction in a Magnetic field and is most commonly observed in birds, though it has also been observed in many other migrational animals. ...
It has been suggested that Magnetic field density be merged into this article or section. ...
Orders Many - see section below. ...
Families Andrenidae Apidae Colletidae Halictidae Megachilidae Melittidae Stenotritidae Bee collecting pollen Bees (Apoidea superfamily) are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. ...
The word Avian can refer to different things: .. Most commonly it is used referring to the class of animals named birds. Avians are a fantasy race in several fantasy settings. ...
- Magnetotactic bacteria build miniature magnets inside themselves and use them to determine their orientation relative to the Earth's magnetic field.
Electroception (or "electroreception"), the most significant of the non-human senses, is the ability to detect electric fields. Several species of fish, sharks and rays have evolved the capacity to sense changes in electric fields in their immediate vicinity. Some fish passively sense changing nearby electric fields, some generate their own weak, electric fields and sense the pattern of field potentials over their body surface, and some use these generating and sensing capacities for social communication. The mechanisms by which electroceptive fishes construct a spatial representation from very small differences in field potentials involve comparisons of spike latencies from different parts of the fish's body. Magnetotactic bacteria are a class of bacteria discovered in the 1970s that are characterised by being able to orient themselves in response to the Earths magnetic field (magnetotaxis). ...
Electroreception, sometimes written as electroception, is the biological ability to receive and make use of electrical impulses. ...
In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge (or a time-varying magnetic field) that exerts a force on charged objects in the field. ...
Orders Carcharhiniformes Heterodontiformes Hexanchiformes Lamniformes Orectolobiformes Pristiophoriformes Squaliformes Squatiniformes Sharks are a group (superorder Selachimorpha) of fish, with a full cartilaginous skeleton, a streamlined body plan, with normally 5, but up to 7 (depending on species) gill slits along the side of, or beginning slightly behind, the head (in some...
- The only order of mammals that is known to demonstrate electroception is the monotreme order. Among these mammals, the platypus (see [4]) has the most acute sense of electroception.
- Humans (and probably other mammals) can detect electric fields indirectly by detecting the effect they have on hairs. An electrically charged balloon, for instance, will exert a force on human arm hairs, which can be felt through tactition and identified as coming from a static charge (and not from wind or the like). This is however not Electroception since there is no separate sense for it. The presence of an electrical field is merely concluded from a side-effect of another sense.
Echolocation is the ability to determine orientation to other objects through interpretation of reflected sound (like sonar). Bats and cetaceans are noted for this ability, though some other animals use it, as well. It is most often used to navigate through poor lighting conditions or to identify and track prey. There is presently an uncertainty whether this is simply an extremely developed post-sensory interpretation of auditory perceptions or it actually constitutes a separate sense. Resolution of the issue will require brain scans of animals while they actually perform echolocation, a task that has proven difficult in practice. Families Kollikodontidae(extinct) Ornithorhynchidae- Platypus Tachyglossidae- Echidnas Steropodontidae(extinct) Monotremes (monos, single + trema, hole; refers to the cloaca) are mammals that lay eggs, instead of giving birth to live young like marsupials (Metatheria) and placental mammals (Eutheria). ...
Binomial name Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Shaw, 1799) The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a small, half-aquatic mammal endemic to the eastern part of Australia, and one of the three extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young (the other two are echidnas). ...
Echolocation, also called Biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several mammals such as bats, dolphins and whales. ...
The F70 type frigates (here, La Motte-Picquet) are fitted with VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) type DUBV43 or DUBV43C tugged sonars SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) — or sonar — (British ASDIC) is a technique that uses sound propagation under water to navigate or to detect other vessels. ...
Suborders Megachiroptera Microchiroptera See text for families. ...
Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti (see text for families) The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ...
Pressure detection uses the lateral line, which is a pressure-sensing system of hairs found in fish and some aquatic amphibians. It is used primarily for navigation, hunting, and schooling. In fish, the lateral line is a sense organ used to detect movement in the surrounding water. ...
For other uses, see Amphibian (disambiguation). ...
The Twelve Senses In the 1920s, at a time when conventional physiology only recognized five or six senses, Rudolf Steiner proposed that there were far more. He defined twelve senses; of these twelve, the first nine are now well-recognized: the equilibrioceptive (balance), proprioceptive (movement), nociceptive (sense of pain and wellness), tactile (touch), gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), thermoceptive (warmth), visual and auditory senses. Steiner proposed three more senses as well: the sense of phoneme or language, the sense of thought and the sense of ego (the ability to recognize an ego outside of our own); he termed these three 'higher senses' that depended upon the healthy development of the foundational senses of balance, movement, pain/wellness and touch. Steiner's last three senses have not been confirmed by scientific research; in particular, sensory organs for them would have to be found. Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (February 27, 1861 – March 30, 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, architect, playwright, educator, and social thinker. ...
The Senses and Intelligence Out of research into how creativity manifests in different individuals, Howard Gardner described multiple kinds of intelligence: visual, musical, logical/mathematical, linguistic, movement, naturalistic, kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. Most of these correspond to particular senses - in fact, all of them may if Steiner's higher senses are included. Other senses (taste, smell) may also have their own particular intelligences (Gardner has said that his search for additional intelligences continues). The relationship between intelligence and sensory perception thus appears to be a close one. Howard Gardner (born 1943 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) is a cognitive and educational psychologist based at Harvard University best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. ...
The relationship can become too close, leading to a dominance of reactive over contemplative intelligence. Thus, highly intelligent people are often described as 'quick' and 'sharp,' suggesting the highly-tuned (even frazzled) nature of their nervous system.
See also Look up Attention in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one thing while ignoring other things. ...
An auditory illusion is an illusion of hearing (sense), the sound equivalent of an optical illusion: the listener hears either sounds which are not present in the stimulus, or impossible sounds. ...
An optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that, at least in common sense terms, are deceptive or misleading [1]. Thus information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain to give, on the face of ir, a percept that does not tally with a physical measurement of...
Touch illusions are illusions that exploit the sense of touch. ...
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Intuition has many but close meanings across many cultures, including: Quick and ready insight seemingly independent of previous experiences and empirical knowledge Immediate apprehension or cognition Knowledge or conviction gained immediately and without detailed consideration The power or faculty of attaining knowledge or cognition immediately without thought and inference. ...
In psychology, sensation is the first stage in the chain of biochemical and neurologic events that begins with the impinging of a stimulus upon the receptor cells of a sensory organ, which then leads to perception, the mental state that is reflected in statements like I see a uniformly blue...
Multimodal integration, also known as multisensory integration, is the integration in the brain of inputs from the various senses, to form multimodal representations or percepts. ...
The sensitivity or insensitivity of a human, often considered with regard to a particular kind of stimulus, is the strength of the feeling it results in, in comparison with the strength of the stimulus. ...
Although sense of time is not associated with specific sensory system, the work of psychologists and neuroscientists indicates that our brains do have a system governing perception of time. ...
This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ...
The term sensorium (plural: sensoria) refers to the sum of an organisms perception, the seat of sensation where it experiences and interprets the environments within which it lives. ...
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