WITH WHICH SENSES DO WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD?

 

Our senses play a very important role in our lives because it is through them that we learn about the world. They inform us about the surrounding world and warn us of danger, they allow us to smell, see or hear. 

It is difficult to look for a single definition of "senses", but in the simplest terms they can be understood as a group of specialised receptive cells that have the ability to perceive stimuli and send the information they receive to specific regions of the brain, where it is then interpreted. 

 

Have you ever wondered how many senses we have in order to get to know the world? Each of you will surely mention hearing, sight or smell, but what about the rest?

Well, we have as many as 8 senses that receive stimuli from the outside world and from the body. 

 

The senses that receive information from the outside world are:

• touch, 
• hearing,
• sight, 
• smell,
• taste 

The senses that receive information from the body are:

• balance, 
• deep sensation,
• interoception

 

Characteristics of the different senses 

 

The sense of touch

The skin, the largest human organ, is responsible for receiving tactile stimuli.  The skin receives superficial sensory stimuli. Thanks to its receptors, we perceive not only someone's touch but also pain or a change in temperature

 

Sense of hearing

Ears are responsible for hearing. They, or more precisely the bones inside them, pick up air vibrations, which the brain perceives as specific sounds.

 

Sense of sight

The sense of sight enables us to perceive most of the information from our environment. The organ of sight is the eye, which receives and recognises electromagnetic waves. It has two types of receptors - the first can identify and name colours, the second assesses their brightness, which is why some people think that sight is actually two separate senses.

 

The sense of smell

The nose is used to perceive smells. Its millions of olfactory receptors capture chemical molecules. Very often the sense of smell acts as the body's first defence barrier. An odour which is perceived as unpleasant can make us refrain from eating something - we perceive the olfactory signal as a warning that the food is spoiled and could provoke severe poisoning, for example.

 

Sense of taste

Taste perception is carried out by the taste buds which are mainly located on the tongue, but also on the soft palate and the back wall of the throat. They allow us to perceive the basic tastes: salty, sweet, bitter and sour.

 

The vestibular sense

Receptors for the vestibular sense are located in the inner ear and tell us about every change in body and head position. Among other things, the vestibular system influences balance, motor coordination and muscle tone. Any kind of movement will stimulate the vestibular sense - swinging, spinning, but also overcoming obstacle courses and walking on curbs.

 

Proprioceptive sense

The proprioceptive sense, called deep sensation, informs us about the position of different parts of the body in space and in relation to each other, and allows us to perform various activities without constant visual control. Proprioceptive receptors are located in muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints. The sense of proprioception enables us to feel ourselves well.

 

Sense of Interoception

Often forgotten and bypassed, the 8th sense otherwise known as visceral sensation.

It is responsible for feeling the work of the internal organs of our body. It is connected to the work of the nervous system, in particular the vagus nerve which innervates the abdominal cavity and the chest.

This sense is responsible, among other things, for satisfying our physiological needs: it is thanks to this sense that we can feel bowel movements, pressure on the bladder, hunger and satiety. It also influences our sense of security.

Attention, this sense also plays a special role in shaping our mood, behaviour and social relations.

It turns out that it plays a special role in the formation of emotional reactions and social bonds.