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The other Senses
• The major sense are seeing & hearing – Without our sense of
• Touch • Taste • Smell• Body motion & position
–Serious handicapped & our enjoyment of the world would be seriously diminished
Touch
• Essential to development
• Is actually a mix of at least 4 distinct skin senses Pressure
(identifiable receptors) warmth cold Pain
Mystery where they originate from
The brain adapts & touch sensitivityIs only sensitive to the unexpectedstimulus
Pain
• Pain is the way your body tells you that there is something wrong– People born with the ability
not to feel pain– People born that endure
chronic pain• What is it?
– Belongs to the senses & the brain
– Pain felt by amputees & those born with out limbs
– The brain anticipates
The Phantom Limb sensations indicatethe brain can misinterpret the
spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of
normal sensory input.
Pain Cont. No specific area in the brain that deals
with pain More than one type of stimulus that
triggers it Melzak & Wall’s theory that explains
pain Gate-Control Theory: the spinal cord
contains a neurological gate that either blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to the brain
“gate” opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers
“gate” closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain
Chronic Pain
• Those people who suffer from chronic pain should use gate closing methods to manage their pain
• Explains psychological influences on pain– Distractions & a release of
endorphins can greatly diminish pain
• Mind over matter
The brain creates pain through perception
endurance, & experience
More on Pain
• Memories of the pain we experience can leave a mark– People overlook the
duration of pain– They remember its
moments of peak– How much the felt at
the end• Coldwater experiment
• Those in the medical field believe it is better to lessen the pain than to switch it off abruptly– Tapering down the
pain seemed to work with the colonoscopy test
Pain Control
• If pain comes from the body & the mind than it is treatable
• Different therapies– Mind over matter
techniques– Drugs– Surgery– Acupuncture– Relaxation techniques– Etc.
Taste Taste Sensations: a chemical sense
sweet sour salty Bitter
Taste receptors reproduce themselves every two weeks Older you get taste buds decrease & the less
sensitive you are to taste Alcohol & smoking accelerate the decline in
taste buds & sensitivity
Sensory Interaction
the principle that one sense may influence another as when the smell of food influences its taste Jelly bean activity last week Smell adds to our sense of taste but can
change it The brain blends the senses so that they
interact with each other
Smell• A chemical sense
– Olfactory receptor cells that respond selectively to the aroma around you
– Each person has its own sense, a chemical aroma put out (newborn babies & their mothers)
– A mystery how these olfactory cells work
• They recognize odors individually unlike the cells with the other senses
The ability to identifyscents peaks in earlyadulthood & graduallydeclines thereafter.
Age, Sex and Sense of Smell
Women
Men
10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99Age Group
4
3
2
0
Numberof correct
answers
Women and young adults have best sense of smell
Smell Cont.
• Odors have the power to evoke memory & feelings
• It is a primitive sense• Recollection & Studies
– Can not recall by name but recognize odor associated with long forgotten episodes
• Pleasant or painful memories can be resurfaced– “The smell & taste of
things, bears unfaltering in the tiny & almost impalpable drop of their essence”
• Marcel Proust