The Other Senses

The other Senses

• The major sense are seeing & hearing – Without our sense of

• Touch • Taste • Smell• Body motion & position

–Serious handicapped & our enjoyment of the world would be seriously diminished

Touch

• Essential to development

• Is actually a mix of at least 4 distinct skin senses Pressure

(identifiable receptors) warmth cold Pain

Mystery where they originate from

The brain adapts & touch sensitivityIs only sensitive to the unexpectedstimulus

Pain

• Pain is the way your body tells you that there is something wrong– People born with the ability

not to feel pain– People born that endure

chronic pain• What is it?

– Belongs to the senses & the brain

– Pain felt by amputees & those born with out limbs

– The brain anticipates

The Phantom Limb sensations indicatethe brain can misinterpret the

spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of

normal sensory input.

Pain Cont. No specific area in the brain that deals

with pain More than one type of stimulus that

triggers it Melzak & Wall’s theory that explains

pain Gate-Control Theory: the spinal cord

contains a neurological gate that either blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to the brain

“gate” opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers

“gate” closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Chronic Pain

• Those people who suffer from chronic pain should use gate closing methods to manage their pain

• Explains psychological influences on pain– Distractions & a release of

endorphins can greatly diminish pain

• Mind over matter

The brain creates pain through perception

endurance, & experience

More on Pain

• Memories of the pain we experience can leave a mark– People overlook the

duration of pain– They remember its

moments of peak– How much the felt at

the end• Coldwater experiment

• Those in the medical field believe it is better to lessen the pain than to switch it off abruptly– Tapering down the

pain seemed to work with the colonoscopy test

Pain Control

• If pain comes from the body & the mind than it is treatable

• Different therapies– Mind over matter

techniques– Drugs– Surgery– Acupuncture– Relaxation techniques– Etc.

Taste Taste Sensations: a chemical sense

sweet sour salty Bitter

Taste receptors reproduce themselves every two weeks Older you get taste buds decrease & the less

sensitive you are to taste Alcohol & smoking accelerate the decline in

taste buds & sensitivity

Sensory Interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another as when the smell of food influences its taste Jelly bean activity last week Smell adds to our sense of taste but can

change it The brain blends the senses so that they

interact with each other

Smell• A chemical sense

– Olfactory receptor cells that respond selectively to the aroma around you

– Each person has its own sense, a chemical aroma put out (newborn babies & their mothers)

– A mystery how these olfactory cells work

• They recognize odors individually unlike the cells with the other senses

The ability to identifyscents peaks in earlyadulthood & graduallydeclines thereafter.

Age, Sex and Sense of Smell

Women

Men

10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99Age Group

4

3

2

0

Numberof correct

answers

Women and young adults have best sense of smell

Smell Cont.

• Odors have the power to evoke memory & feelings

• It is a primitive sense• Recollection & Studies

– Can not recall by name but recognize odor associated with long forgotten episodes

• Pleasant or painful memories can be resurfaced– “The smell & taste of

things, bears unfaltering in the tiny & almost impalpable drop of their essence”

• Marcel Proust

Body Position & Movement

Kinesthesis the system for sensing

the position and movement of individual body parts

Vestibular Sense the sense of body

movement and position including the sense of

balance