Importance of the Five Senses

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

The body's ability to perceive information from the environment is the product of a long evolutionary process that has left its mark on each of the existing species throughout history. history of the planet, reaching our current reality as an essential part of our life and, fulfilling the most fundamental role in the possibility of understanding the world that surrounds us. surrounds. Each of our senses provides us with a package of valuable information about our surroundings as well as what happens inside one, having the ability to work together to provide us with a sensory experience that, thanks to the technological stimulation of the last decades, has become increasingly complex.

Until not long ago, the senses were approached from what was properly evident in the structures and organs of perception that we possess, while for hundreds of years the existence of only 5 of them was considered, which are: 1) the view that gives us It allows us to see and appreciate the world around us, perceiving shapes, colors and movements, which is essential for safety and security. orientation; 2) hearing, for hearing and perceiving sounds, which is essential for communication and for detecting danger, but also for enjoying music and other pleasant sounds; 3) smell, which is essential to perceive odors, allowing us to detect dangers, such as smoke and spoiled food; 4) taste to capture the flavors of food and drink, which is important for food selection and for enjoying food; and 5) touch through which we feel the texture, shape, and temperature of the objects we touch, which is essential for the safety and enjoyment of tactile experiences.

Capture amplitude

The most modern advances in the field of neuroscience, on the other hand, have generated new fundamental knowledge data that up to now complements some 16 more senses, thus continuing with our perceptive list through: 6) proprioception, responsible for capturing the position and movement of our body; 7) the vestibular sense, corresponding to balance and orientation in space; 8) Nocioception that allows us to feel pain and protect ourselves from potential injuries; 9) thermoception to perceive the temperature on the skin and inside the body; and 10) mechanoreception, which makes it possible to feel pressure on the skin and inside the body.

On the other hand, we have that there are even deeper senses capable of joint activities to capture information. such as: 11) humidity is perceived through a combined action of various senses where the olfactory tends to predominate; 12) even certain calculation skills are what allow us to perceive the density and consistency of objects; 13) while kinesthesia is responsible for the perception of muscle movements and motor coordination; 14) vibro-tactile perception allows us to feel vibrations on the skin and inside the body; and 15) paresthesia, which is the perception of tingling and numbness.

Understanding in an ever deeper way the specificities of the sensitive power of the body, neuroscience has succeeded in revealing that: 16) feeling acute pain and chronic, it is also a capacity in which other mechanisms beyond basic nocioception come into play, which is why, at the study level, it is considered a fact distinguishable; 17) the interoception by which the internal stimuli of the body are captured, such as the frequency heart rate and breathing, is another of the fundamental senses that helps us keep safe our lives; 18) while sensory synthesis allows the integration of sensory information to form a coherent perception of the world; 19) and the haptic ability of our skin offers us a more complete tactile experience through the use of hands and fingers; and 20) balance and orientation in space, both at rest and in motion, also arise from other mechanisms and various senses to the vestibular, requiring further research to find the definitive answers to this complicated ability.

At the end of this list, we can be pleased with the recognition of also being possessors of super powers like comic book heroes, since in place 21) we find the magnetoception, a subtle but very useful sense that allows us to perceive the direction and intensity of magnetic fields, however much remains to be explored and discover among our deepest capacities, which is why neuroscience continues to dedicate time and effort to the study of how the body is capable of knowing and interpreting everything that surrounds him.

the magic of synesthesia

Beyond all of the above and already on a more complex mental level we come across synesthesia, exposed as a neurological phenomenon in which one sensory stimulus triggers a perceptual experience corresponding to another sense. For example, some people can see colors while listening to music or perceive flavors when seeing certain colors.

This quality of sensory multifunctionality is important because it provides us with a unique and profound understanding of the human sensory experience. It can also be used in artistic creation and scientific research to better understand how the brain works and how stimuli are processed. sensory, plus it can be valuable for those looking for new ways to experience and appreciate the world around them and even be more creative and productive.

Meaningless life

When any sense is lost, without a doubt there is a strong impact on the ability to perceive and respond appropriately to the environment, therefore it is important to maintain good health. and prevent injuries and illnesses that can affect the senses, although they can establish compensation for the lack of one or the other, so that the sensory experience reaches build new mechanisms to overcome a perceptive deficiency of the body, giving a new meaning to the life of those who suffer from it, saying this in the most poetic way of the expression.

References

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Salvat Library (1973). The evolution of the spices. Barcelona, ​​Spain. Salvat Editors.

Hickman, C. et al. (1998) Integral Principles of Zoology. 11th Ed. Madrid, Spain. McGraw-Hill Interamericana.

LeBreton, D. (1995). Anthropology of the body and modernity (pp. Buenos Aires). Buenos Aires: New vision.

Bushy. S. (Ed.). (2019). The senses of the body: the sensory turn in social research and gender studies. National Autonomous University of Mexico, Center for Gender Research and Studies.

Serres, M. (2022). Variations on the body. Argentine Economic Culture Fund.