Our senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch – are fundamental to how we experience and interact with the world around us. They transmit information from our environment to the brain, which then interprets it, allowing us to understand and respond to our surroundings. Understanding how our senses work is crucial for maintaining overall health and well-being.
While Aristotle posited that humans possess five senses, modern research suggests the number may be far greater, potentially reaching dozens. This evolving understanding highlights the complexity of sensory perception and its impact on our daily lives.
Sensory experiences are rarely isolated. Instead, our senses constantly interact and influence one another. What we feel impacts what we observe, and vice versa. For example, the scent of a shampoo can alter how we perceive the texture of our hair; the aroma of roses might make hair feel softer.
This interplay extends to taste as well. The texture of liquids influences how we perceive their flavors, and aromas play a significant role in the overall tasting experience. We don’t have specific receptors for flavors like strawberry or mango on our tongues; rather, it’s the combination of taste and smell that creates these perceptions.
According to Professor Charles Spence of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford, some neuroscientists believe humans have between 22 and 33 distinct senses. [1]
Beyond the traditional five, these include a sense of our body’s position in space – known as proprioception – and our sense of balance, which relies on the vestibular system in the inner ear, as well as vision. Other senses include interoception, our awareness of internal bodily states like a slightly increased heart rate or hunger, and a sense of agency, the feeling of control when we move our limbs. This sense of agency can be disrupted in stroke patients, who may feel as though someone else is moving their body.
Interestingly, some patients who have experienced a stroke report a loss of ownership over a limb, even while still experiencing sensations in it. [3]
Many of the senses we recognize are actually combinations of multiple sensory inputs. Touch, for instance, encompasses pain, temperature, and itch. Similarly, taste is a fusion of touch, smell, and the basic taste sensations – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. [2]
The process of tasting involves receptors on the tongue that detect these basic tastes. But the full experience of flavor is significantly enhanced by smell. Aromatic molecules are released during chewing and travel from the mouth to olfactory receptors in the nose via the nasopharynx, contributing substantially to the flavors we perceive.
Touch too plays a crucial role, linking taste and smell and influencing our preferences for food textures.
Even vision is influenced by our vestibular system. For example, while on an airplane, looking at the interior of the cabin on the ground and then again in flight can create the illusion that the front of the cabin is higher than it was, even though everything visually remains at the same level. This is due to the combined input from vision and the inner ear, which signals that the body is tilted backward.
The study of the senses is a rich area of research, with philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists collaborating at centers like the Centre for the Study of the Senses in London. [2]
In 2013, the center launched the “Re-thinking the Senses” project, which revealed how altering the sound of footsteps can affect our perception of body weight, how aircraft noise interferes with taste perception, and why many people prefer to drink tomato juice on airplanes. [2]
The research found that while our perception of salt, sweet, and sour diminishes in the presence of white noise, the savory flavor in tomato juice is enhanced by the sound of an airplane engine. [2]
Recent interactive exhibits in London allowed visitors to experience their senses firsthand, demonstrating that they don’t always function as we expect. One exhibit, featuring three curling stones of different sizes, created the illusion that the smallest stone was the heaviest, even though all three weighed the same. [2]
There are countless examples around us that demonstrate the complexity of our senses. So, the next time you walk outside and enjoy a snack, take a moment to appreciate how your senses are working and how they harmonize to create the experiences we perceive. [1]
