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 drugs 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.
Humans are designed to interact with the world around them. A person has five of them:
The organ of vision is the eyes;
The organ of hearing is the ears;
Sense of smell - nose;
Touch - skin;
Taste is the tongue.
They all react to external stimuli.
Organs of taste
Humans have a sense of taste. This occurs due to special cells responsible for taste. They are located on the tongue and are combined into taste buds, each of which has from 30 to 80 cells.
These taste buds are located on the tongue as part of the fungiform papillae, which cover the entire surface of the tongue.
There are other papillae on the tongue that detect various substances. There are several types concentrated there, each of which has its own taste.
For example, salty and sweet are determined by the tip of the tongue, bitter by its base, and sour by the side surface.
Olfactory organ
The olfactory cells are located in the upper part of the nose. Various microparticles enter the nasal passages onto the mucous membranes, due to which they begin to contact the cells responsible for the sense of smell. This is facilitated by special hairs that are located in the thickness of the mucus.
Pain, tactile and temperature sensitivity
The sense organs of a person of this species are very important, because they allow them to protect themselves from various dangers of the surrounding world.
Special receptors are scattered across the surface of our body. Cold reacts to cold, heat to heat, pain to pain, tactile to touch.
Most tactile receptors are located in the lips and on the tips of the fingers. There are much fewer such receptors in other parts of the body.
When you touch something, tactile receptors are irritated. Some of them are more sensitive, others less, but all the information collected is sent to the brain and analyzed.
The human senses include the most important organ - vision, through which we receive almost 80% of all information about the outside world. The eye, lacrimal apparatus, etc. are elements of the organ of vision.
The eyeball has several membranes:
The sclera, called the cornea;
The choroid, which passes in front into the iris.
The inside is divided into chambers filled with jelly-like transparent contents. The cameras surround the lens, a transparent disk for viewing objects near and far.
The inner side of the eyeball, which is opposite the iris and cornea, has light-sensitive cells (rods and cones) that convert into an electrical signal that travels to the brain along the optic nerve.
The lacrimal apparatus is designed to protect the cornea from microbes. The tear fluid continuously washes and moisturizes the surface of the cornea, ensuring its sterility. This is facilitated by occasional eyelash blinking.
The human senses include three components - the inner, middle and outer ear. The latter is the auditory concha and the ear canal. Separated from it by the eardrum is the middle ear, which is a small space with a volume of about one cubic centimeter.
The eardrum and inner ear contain three small bones called the malleus, stapes, and incus, which transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. The sound-receiving organ is the cochlea, which is located in the inner ear.
The snail is a small tube twisted in a spiral in the form of two and a half special turns. It is filled with a viscous liquid. When sound vibrations enter the inner ear, they are transmitted to the fluid, which sways and acts on the sensitive hairs. Information in the form of impulses is sent to the brain, analyzed, and we hear sounds.
- Vision is the ability to sense radiation waves.
- Hearing is the ability to perceive and process sounds.
- The sense of smell is the ability to detect and recognize odors.
- Touch is the ability to feel touch.
- Taste is the ability to distinguish food.
A person experiences all these 5 senses thanks to a finely tuned system of sensory organs, which is part of the nervous system and provides information from the external and internal environment of the body. In total, there are 5 sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, skin, tongue.
A person expresses feelings through emotions. In psychology, there is a lot of discussion about the difference between feelings and emotions, and whether there is a connection between them. It is believed that emotions relate to a specific situation, they are short-lived, arise spontaneously in the human body and appear from birth. And feelings are human states that do not depend on the situation, they are long-lasting and can be developed spiritually. For example, “I'm scared” is an emotion, and “I'm afraid of the dark” is a feeling.
Feelings and emotions. How fear is connected to the basic human senses
Throughout life, it is common for a person to experience a variety of emotions. One of the most striking and memorable is fear. Fear, as one of the basic emotions, depends on many reasons visible and invisible to a person. In other words, as a result of the sensory organs receiving and processing information from the environment, a person may or may not experience fear. Based on the 5 human senses, we can distinguish 5 main types of analysis of the environment that comes into contact with a person.
For example, we can experience a feeling of fear when we see something or someone. With the help of our eyes we receive about 80-90% of all information from the outside. No wonder people say: “Fear has big eyes.”
Thanks to the work of the hearing organ - the ears, a person reacts accordingly to sounds. This is why some people flinch in fear when they hear a rustling sound, or, conversely, a piercing loud sound. The organ of hearing helps to monitor the environment and the reflector to react to what could cause harm.
Perceiving odors, the human nose sends an impulse to the cerebral cortex. Next, the brain begins to evaluate signals that are dangerous to life and health. That is why, in order to reduce the risk of leakage of household gas (which does not smell), some additives are added to it, which have a strong unpleasant odor. Thanks to the olfactory sense organ, a person will have time to react to the smell in time.
Due to the presence of a large number of receptors located on human skin, you can feel what you touch, whether it is cold or hot. If you are burned, when pain occurs, the brain will command you to pull your hand away in fear.
There are also certain zones on the tongue that determine a particular taste. The tip of the tongue is responsible for sweetness, the root of the tongue will tell you when something bitter is in the mouth, and the sides of the tongue signal the acidity of the product.
Thus, the five human senses, which are fundamental for working with the external environment, are responsible for analyzing and protecting the body as a whole. Thanks to the fact that a person has sense organs, he can avoid danger and better adapt to the world around him.
Was last modified: April 20th, 2019 by Elena Pogodaeva
The five senses allow us to perceive the world around us and respond in the most appropriate way. The eyes are responsible for vision, the ears are for hearing, the nose is for smell, the tongue is for taste, and the skin is for touch. Thanks to them, we receive information about our environment, which is analyzed and interpreted by the brain. Usually our reaction is aimed at prolonging pleasant sensations or ending unpleasant ones.
Vision
Of all the senses available to us, we most often use vision. We can see through many organs: light rays pass through the pupil (hole), the cornea (a transparent membrane), then through the lens (a lens-like organ), after which an inverted image appears on the retina (the thin membrane in the eyeball). The image is converted into a nerve signal thanks to the receptors lining the retina - rods and cones, and is transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve. The brain recognizes the nerve impulse as an image, turns it in the right direction and perceives it in three dimensions.
Hearing
According to scientists, hearing- the second most used sense by a person. Sounds (air vibrations) penetrate through the ear canal to the eardrum and cause it to vibrate. They then pass through the fenestra vestibule, an opening covered by a thin film, and the cochlea, a fluid-filled tube, irritating the auditory cells. These cells convert the vibrations into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. The brain recognizes these signals as sounds, determining their volume level and pitch.
Touch
Millions of receptors located on the surface of the skin and in its tissues recognize touch, pressure or pain, then send appropriate signals to the spinal cord and brain. The brain analyzes and deciphers these signals, translating them into sensations - pleasant, neutral or unpleasant.
Smell
We are able to distinguish up to ten thousand odors, some of which (poisonous gases, smoke) notify us of imminent danger. Cells located in the nasal cavity detect molecules that are the source of odor, then send corresponding nerve impulses to the brain. The brain recognizes these odors, which can be pleasant or unpleasant. Scientists have identified seven main odors: aromatic (camphor), ethereal, fragrant (floral), ambrosial (the smell of musk - an animal substance used in perfumery), repulsive (putrefactive), garlicky (sulphuric) and, finally, the smell of burnt. The sense of smell is often called the sense of memory: indeed, a smell can remind you of a very long ago event.
Taste
Less developed than the sense of smell, the sense of taste informs about the quality and taste of the food and liquids consumed. Taste cells located on the taste buds, small tubercles on the tongue, detect flavors and transmit corresponding nerve impulses to the brain. The brain analyzes and identifies the character of taste.
How do we taste food?
The sense of taste is not enough to appreciate food, and the sense of smell also plays a very important role. The nasal cavity contains two odor-sensitive olfactory areas. When we eat, the smell of food reaches these areas, which "determine" whether the food tastes good or not.
Areas of the brain where information from certain senses is processed.
Cones, which perceive color, and rods, which respond to light and dark, in the retina.
The answer to this question can be very different. Conservatives, following Aristotle, speak of five senses - hearing, touch, vision, smell and taste. Poets insist on the sixth, which includes either the feeling of beauty, or intuition, or something else. These are non-specialists. But physiologists and doctors also disagree with each other. The most cautious of them now count only three senses in a person, the most radical - 33.
Indeed, we often use senses that are not included in Aristotle’s list. Does seeing, hearing, or any of the other five senses help you perform a common neurological test in which the doctor asks you to close your eyes and touch the tip of your nose with one finger or the other? Which of the five feelings torment you while rocking at sea? What sense allows you to determine whether the tea in your glass is too hot?
So how many feelings does a person have? It depends on how you count.
We can say that there are only three senses: chemical (smell and taste), mechanical (hearing and touch) and light (vision). The reaction of the corresponding sensory organs is based on different physicochemical mechanisms. But these three feelings can also be classified in more detail. For example, taste actually includes five senses: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (the Japanese word for the taste of monosodium glutamate, a seasoning that is always included in concentrated soups). A few years ago, scientists discovered that the tongue has separate receptors for the taste of umami. French physiologists have recently discovered receptors that respond to the taste of fat, and they are present not only on the tongue, but also in the small intestine (it’s not for nothing that a good portion of castor oil, commonly known as castor oil, penetrates us to the very intestines). So a person most likely has six senses of taste.
Vision can be considered as one sense - the sensation of light, as two - light and color, or as four - light and primary colors: red, green and blue. Frogs and some other animals have separate receptors in the retina of their eyes that respond to movement in the field of vision - another sense (as far as is known, humans have no such receptors).
Let's take rumor. Is it one sense or several hundred, equal to the number of hair cells in the inner ear, each of which responds to its own vibration frequency? It is also interesting that as a result of aging or certain diseases, a person may lose the perception of certain frequencies, while the rest will still be audible.
As for the sense of smell, at least 2000 types of receptors are involved. Among them there are very specialized ones, for example, responding to the smell of the sea, to the smell of lilies of the valley. Should these sensations be considered together, as a single sense of smell, or separately?
We are all capable of feeling the temperature of surrounding objects, the degree of bending of the limbs in the joints (which allows us to quite accurately find the tip of the nose with our fingers with our eyes closed), and we feel an imbalance (which, when rocking, leads to seasickness). We experience a feeling of an empty stomach or a full bladder. Is it possible to consider as feelings those sensations that do not reach consciousness, because there is simply no need for this? For example, a person has a sensor that senses the pH of the cerebrospinal fluid, but the adjustment of this parameter occurs without the participation of consciousness.
Perhaps the sense of time should be included in the list. Although few of us can answer with great accuracy what time it is without a watch, many are quite confident in assessing the elapsed periods of time, and everyone has internal biorhythms.
Even conservatives agree that in addition to the classic five, people have a sense of pain. And radicals distinguish three pain feelings: cutaneous, bodily (pain in joints, bones and spine) and visceral (pain in the insides).
Nowadays, most scientists recognize the existence of 21 senses in humans. The upper limit has not yet been set.
