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We all are taught in early school days only about the five human senses. The brain is apparently the decision maker and these sensory organs only help send the information to the brain and help the brain. But, what some of us might not know is there are people with more than five senses in addition to the existing ones. Before we talk about them let us talk about the basic five.
Sight – View is not as simple as ti seems. It is a complex procedure involving the transparent outer layer or the eye called cornea, the pupil and the iris. When the light reflects from the object you view to the eye the cornea bend the light as it passes through the pupil hole. The iris is like the camera shutter for eyes which opens to let the light in or retracts to let it out.
Smell – As per researchers humans are able to smell over 1 trillion scents. The nerve endings in olfactory cleft are responsible for transmitting smell to the brain. The oltefactory is located beside the smelling part of the brain on the roof of the nasal cavity. While human are equipped with 400 different smelling recepters, if there are issues in recognizing smells then it could be result of a rare disorder of effect of aging.
Hearing – Hearing is also a complex sensory organ that uses a complex labyrinth called human ear through which it funnels the sound from its external part into the external auditory canal. The sound apparently travels through eardrum or tympanic membrane, a thin connective tissue sheet that vibrates when sound waves strike. It then reaches the auditory ossicles in the middle year. These three little bones are known as malleus (hammer), stapes (stirrup) and incus(anvil) vibrate. The vibrates are send to the corti by the stapes bone by pushing the oval window structure in and out.
Taste – Taste is further divided into three different perceptions called sweet salty bitter and sour. Though scientists and researchers believe that the fifth one is savory or umami, they also say that there are many more that are yet to be discovered. As per the National Library of Medicine, spicy cannot be considered a taste but it is apparently a sign of pain. As humans we have 2000 to 4000 taste buds on the tongue, throat back, nasal cavity, esophagus and epiglottis. But, again smell does help the brain perceive the taste and hence, people with stuffy nose have difficulty recognizing taste properly.
Touch – As per researchers touch is said to be the first sense that humans develop. Specialized neurons in the skin communicate the distinct sensation to the brain. A touch sense includes sensations like touch, vibration, temperature, pain, pressure and more. It is said to be very important to human beings wellness beyond its use for interaction and does influence decision making to a good extent as well.
Now, about the additional senses. We do have some more subtle one that we never perceive. These include neuron sensors that control head tilt and balance besides kinesthetic receptors that are responsible for muscle and tendons stretching detection. Our body also has receptors that detect particular arteries of the bloodstream as well.
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