A Census of Senses

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ASK SMITHSONIAN was asked to DEBUNK (expose untruths) some “facts” about the human body. Among five popular myths, it was noted that we do not have five senses; we actually have between 5 and 33 total senses. ECO-PSYCHOLOGIST Michael J. COHEN notes that we could have as many as 53 total senses! Today we are going to gain a heightened AWARENESS of our total number of senses.

Spell POPULAR Spell FACTS Spell NUMBER
What resource was asked to debunk facts? ASK SMITHSONIAN
What are we talking about today? TOTAL NUMBER OF SENSES
What is the last name of the eco-psychologist? COHEN
What is the lowest number of senses people think we have? 5
How many senses does Cohen think we have? 53

What are the classic first five senses? Sight, or VISION, is the first. AUDITION, or hearing, is the second. Smell, or OLFACTION, is the third. Taste, or GUSTATION, is the fourth. And Touch, or TACTITION, is the fifth.

Spell CLASSIC Spell FIRST Spell FIFTH
What other word for sight did I use? VISION
What sense does audition refer to? HEARING
What sense does tactician refer to? TOUCH
Name one of the classic first five senses, using the common word. SIGHT, HEARING, SMELL, TASTE TOUCH
Give me one of the technical words to describe a sense. VISION AUDITION, OLFACTION, GUSTATION, TACTITION
Can you think of another sense beyond the classic five senses?
What senses are you currently using to participate in this lesson?

Beyond the classics, we have many more senses. How about a sense of BALANCE? Or the ability to sense HEAT and TIME. Who determines how many senses we have anyway? The PHILOSOPHER ARISTOTLE is credited with the first numbering of senses. This was done in his work called DE ANIMA. No matter who determines just how many senses we have, it is clear that the main five have been known to us for thousands of years.

Spell NUMBERING Spell DETERMINE Spell YEARS
Name one of the three senses offered in this paragraph. BALANCE HEAT TIME
Who is thought to have first numbered the senses? ARISTOTLE
What was his job title in this paragraph? PHILOSOPHER
In what written work did he first number the senses? DE ANIMA

Engage your sense of balance. Try standing on one foot!

Most NEUROSCIENTISTS count at least nine basic senses. NEUROLOGISTS define senses as “a group of sensory cells that responds to a specific physical PHENOMENON that corresponds to a particular region of the brain where the signals are received and interpreted.”

Spell NEUROSCIENTIST Spell PHENOMENON
The definition of senses includes a group of what kind of sells? SENSORY
A physical phenomenon corresponds to a particular region of the what? BRAIN
What happens in the brain with the signals? RECEIVED AND INTERPRETED

RECEIVED AND INTERPRETED When senses OVERLAP, neurological classification can result in as many as 21 senses. Generally agreed upon senses by neurologists include several novel concepts. THERMOCEPTION is the sense of heat. NOCICEPTION is the sense of pain. EQUILIBRIOCEPTION is the perception of balance. This is what keeps us upright and helps us make our way around this world without getting hurt. PROPRIOCEPTION is the perception of body awareness, or knowing which parts of your body are where without looking.

Spell GENERALLY Spell NOVEL
What is the sense of heat called? THERMOCEPTION
Nociception is the sense of what? PAIN
What is the sense of balance called? EQUILIBRIOCEPTION
Proprioception is the perception of what? BODY AWARENESS
Body Awareness means knowing which parts of your body are where without what? LOOKING
Our sense of balance keeps us what? UPRIGHT
Body Awareness? Let’s practice proprioception. Close your eyes and touch your nose.

Additional neurologically agreed-upon senses include KINAESTHESIA and CHRONOCEPTION. Kinaesthesia is having a sense of movement in your body. Chronoception is how we sense the passing of time.

Spell MOVEMENT Spell TIME
What is the technical term for the sense of movement? KINAESTHESIA
What is the technical term for sensing the passing of time? CHRONOCEPTION

Give me an example of Chronoception.

Michael J. COHEN, who we mentioned in the first paragraph, breaks down senses into four categories; RADIATION, FEELING, CHEMICAL, and MENTAL. Radiation senses include a sense of color, temperature, and moods associated with them. Feeling senses include sensitivity to gravity, air, wind pressure, and motion.

How many categories of senses does Cohen suggest? FOUR
Which category includes a sense of color, temperature, and moods associated with them? RADIATION
Which category includes sensitivity to gravity, air, wind, and motion? FEELING
Name of the four categories. RADIATION, FEELING, CHEMICAL, MENTAL
Name one thing associated with Radiation senses. COLOR, TEMPERATURE, AND MOODS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM
Name one thing associated with Feeling senses. GRAVITY, AIR, WIND PRESSURE MOTION

Continuing with Cohen’s four categories of senses, CHEMICAL senses include HORMONAL sense and HUNGER for food, water, or air. Finally, MENTAL senses include internal or external pain, mental or SPIRITUAL distress, and a sense of self.

Hormonal senses are included in what category? CHEMICAL
What category is internal or external pain in? MENTAL
Name one thing associated with mental senses. INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL PAIN, MENTAL
OR SPIRITUAL DISTRESS, SENSE OF SELF

ISOLATING senses in the study can be misleading. Every day, real-world experiences such as eating involve several different senses working together. The flavor is a great example of sensory interaction. The taste of food largely comes from smell rather than actual taste buds. A loss of smell will greatly affect the personal eating experience. Flavor experiences are also affected by color, sound, and SPATIAL placement.

What can be misleading? ISOLATING SENSES
Name a real-world event that uses several senses. EATING
What is a great example of sensory interaction? FLAVOR
Where does the taste of food largely come from? SMELL
Name one more thing that affects the eating experience. COLOR SOUND SPATIAL PLACEMENT
Can you think of another experience that involves multiple senses?
What senses are involved when you are in water or swimming?

According to the World Economic Forum senior writer ALEX GRAY, there are several senses that exist only in the animal world. They include ELECTRORECEPTION and MAGNETORECEPTION. Electroreception is the ability to feel electric fields around us. Sharks are said to have this sense. Sharks can gather information from electrical fields in their environment and fields emitted by prey they cannot even see. Magnetoreception is how mammals, like bats, use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate.

What is the name of the writer? ALEX GRAY
Who does Gray write for? WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
How many senses do we introduce in this paragraph? TWO
What happens in electroreception? ANIMALS CAN FEEL ELECTRICAL FIELDS AROUND
THEM
What animal is said to have this sense? SHARKS
What can sharks hunt using this sense? PREY
What do bats use to navigate the earth? MAGNETORECEPTION

Creative Writing:

Let’s make sense! Describe a sense and give it a new, creative name.
Cohen seeks to share that we are all sensory creatures, with senses given to us to help us survive and thrive in the natural world. What sense helps you thrive in our world?

Source:

https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/five-false-facts-about-human-body/

https://www.sensorytrust.org.uk/information/articles/senses.html

https://www.sciculture.ac.uk/2014/06/12/not-5-but-33-senses/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/humans-have-more-than-5-senses/