Illustration by Srinivass. In India, the power of disgust to improve villagers’ hygiene is being tested. Center of Gravity, a Bangalore agency working with Valerie Curtis, a disgust researcher, created skits including this role, Laddu Lingam; he makes treats of mud and worms and never washes his hands. Another character, Supermom, shows the proper behavior.
Read Survival’s Ick Factor by James Gorman in the NYT.
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Equilibrioception. Whether you’re slaloming down a slope or strutting down a street, this sense—otherwise known as balance—helps keeps you upright. Although vision plays a role in equilibrioception, the vestibular system of the inner ear is mainly responsible.
Nociception. If you’ve touched a boiling kettle or stubbed a toe, you’re likely all too familiar with nociception, the sense of pain. Recent research shows that what was once viewed as a subjective experience related to touch is, in fact, a distinct phenomenon that corresponds to a specific area in the brain.
Proprioception. Close your eyes and touch your fingertip to your nose. Quick: Where’s your hand? Unless you suffer from a deficit of this kinesthetic sense, you know where your hand is, even though you can’t see it. This sense, the awareness of where your body parts are, sounds silly—until you consider that without it, you’d have to constantly watch your feet to make sure they were planted on the ground.
Thermoception. You notice a chill in the air, so you don a jacket on your way to work. Later, as you enter your warm office, you shed that garment. That’s thermoception, the sense of heat and cold, which relies on temperature sensors in your skin to keep you from overheating or freezing.
Temporal perception. There’s no doubt that the perception of time can be subjective: Three hours spent at a party with friends may speed by, while a three-hour meeting can seem to drag. Yet our sense of time is rooted in biology. Research shows that the basal ganglia and other parts of the brain are responsible.
Interoception. When we take our internal perception into account, we have even more senses. These are linked to sensory receptors found in internal organs, such as those in the lungs that control respiratory rate.”
Extra Sensory Perceptions: Aristotle missed the mark when he named only five in Harvard Medicine.
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