Other Senses

THE SKIN SENSES  Pressure, Temperature, Pain  Gate Theory: only a certain amount of information can be processed by the nervous system at a time

Rank the sensitivity… least to greatest  Scalp  Inside Forearm  Forehead  Buttocks  Eyelid  Nose  Neck  Back of Knee  Sole of Foot  Shoulder Blade

PAIN  The body’s alert system  The more pain receptors located in a particular area, the more sensitive that area is  Scalp: 144Inside Forearm: 203  Forehead: 184Buttocks: 180  Eyelid: 172Nose: 44  Neck: 228Back of Knee: 232  Sole of Foot: 48Shoulder Blade: 212

Pain Continued  Endorphins  Phantom limb sensation – misinterpreting the spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory input  Brain anticipates receiving sensory stimuli  Tinnitus – phantom ringing in the ears in those with hearing loss  All damaged senses can have phantoms

Controlling Pain:  Drugs  surgery  Acupuncture  massage  exercise  Hypnosis  relaxation training and thought distraction

Taste  Taste sensations:  Sweet  Sour  Salty  Bitter  Umami  All other tastes are a mixture of them  Enabled survival  Chemical sense – 200+ taste buds  As we age # of taste buds decrease – why we become less sensitive to taste  Accelerated by smoking and alcohol  Influenced by expectation

Sensory Interaction  Sensory interaction – the principle that one sense may influence another  Taste influenced by smell and texture  Hearing and vision – McGurk effect ( mouth movements for ga and hear ba …will perceive as da )   Embodied Cognition – the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments (ex. Having a warm cup of coffee…will perceive a person as warm)  Synaesthesia – when one sense produces another  Ex. Hearing a sound and seeing a color 

Smell  Olfaction  Chemical sense  Molecules reach olfactory receptor cells at the top of each nasal cavity  Olfactory cells activate and send electric signals to olfactory bulb and olfactory nerve to the smell cortex in the temporal lobe  The combination of olfactory receptors which activate different neuron patterns allow us to distinguish different aromas  Evoke emotions and memories – runs through limbic system

Body Position and Movement  Kinesthesis – the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts  Receptors in joints, tendons, bones, and ears.)  Vestibular sense – the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance.  Located in inner ears  Semicircular canals and vestibular sacs contain fluid that moves when your head rotates or tilts.  This movement stimulates hair-like receptors which send messages to the cerebellum enabling body position and balance  Spinning disorients receptors and causes a perceptual illusion  (Hearing and other senses – crash course)