Perception channels: types, characteristics and operation

Perception is a process performed by all human beings. By definition, it is a brain mechanism where, through a series of associations of different stimuli, the brain interprets an internal reality about what is happening in the environment. Basically, perception could be defined as the physiological event of sensation.

Every living being is related to the environment, since one of the indispensable conditions that the Life itself is the organism's ability to communicate with the external, as well as nutrition and reproduction. Not all living entities are related in the same way with the environment, but there must be a certain degree of perception of what is alien for life to be considered as such.

For example, some bacteria have structures within them known as magnetosomes, which, Based on their alignment, they allow microorganisms to orient themselves magnetically in a column of Water. Fascinating phenomena like this make us ask ourselves many questions: Do organisms have evolutionarily simple "senses"?

What are the channels of perception that characterize human beings? Do we really have 5 senses? If doubts attack you, do not worry, because today we address all these issues and more.

• Related article: "Parts of the Nervous System: anatomical structures and functions"

What are the perception channels?

The channels of human perception or senses They are the physiological mechanism of sensation, that is, the reception of stimuli (external and internal) through the sensory organs. The perception process occurs based on 3 pillars, which can be summarized in the following list:

• Biological factors: external stimuli captured by the 5 senses, which will be explored in the following lines.
• Psychological factors: refers to the set of neural processes carried out by the brain, that is, the image that It is created from stimuli, associating with previous experiences to be able to recognize or learn them.
• Experience: based on exposure to a certain stimulus, human beings react and understand our surroundings differently.

Notably, Although experience is an intrinsically subjective factor, the rest of them can also be differentiated, although they follow the same process in all human beings. For example, studies have shown time and again that completely blind people try to "compensate" for their condition by developing auditory mechanisms of exceptional fineness. Although the biological process is the same, its development varies based on individual needs.

Types of perception channels in humans

We are going to tell you, briefly, what the 5 senses consist of. In any case, we do not delay too much, since we see it of special interest to register other reception channels that are not usually explored in humans. Go for it.

1. Sight

At the biological level, the sense of sight is considered one of the most important in the human being. The organ that is responsible for receiving external stimuli and sending them to the brain are, this time, the eyes. When light passes through the cornea and lens of the eyeball (through the pupil), a true, inverted image is formed on the retina.

This stimulus in the form of an image is carried by the optic nerve to the cerebral cortex, where the interpretation of the message occurs at the psychic-chemical level. The eyes have approximately 125 million rods that help us see the shapes and 7 million cones that differentiate colors, but not much less we are living beings with the sense of sight more developed.

• You may be interested in: "The 11 parts of the eye and their functions"

2. Hearing

The sense of hearing allows us to capture the sounds that are produced in the environment, a fundamental ability to locate ourselves in the three-dimensional environment and act based on what surrounds us. The ear picks up the events of the environment through vibrations of the environment, which range between 20 and 20,000 hertz.

In addition to hearing, the auditory apparatus plays many more essential roles in maintaining human physiological integrity. For example, the vestibular system located in the inner ear is in charge of coordinating balance. Vertigo, dizziness, and ease of having accidents are clinical signs that characterize people with a damaged vestibular system.

3. Taste

Taste allows us to identify the flavors of the food we are going to eat. The main organ involved in this channel of perception is the tongue, which is covered with taste buds. They contain the sensory receptors necessary to form the concept of "taste" (the taste buds).

As a curiosity, it should be noted that the widely cited "tongue map" reports very little information at a physiological and anatomical level. In fact, although there are certain differences in what concentrations of taste receptors referred to in different parts of this organ, the variations have been conceived as insignificant. The process of savoring is far more complex than previously believed.

• You may be interested in: "Taste buds: types, characteristics and functioning"

4. Touch

It is the perception of pressure, usually the skin. The sense of touch is essential for survival, as allows us to interpret when we are in danger based on a series of receptors specialized in the perception of various environmental characteristics. We delve a little more into this concept in the following lines.

5. Smell

Smell is the sense in charge of processing and detecting odors, based on suspended particles present in the environment (It is chemical in nature, just like taste). Through the inspired air, these molecules come into contact with the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity which, after a series of connections, sends the messages to the olfactory bulbs. These are responsible for treating, encoding and directing information to other areas of the brain.

It is interesting to know that human beings can detect 10,000 different smells and that, at the culinary level, the sense of smell is considered an accessory to taste. Have you ever wondered why food doesn't taste like anything to us when we have colds? During this clinical picture, the olfactory receptors are isolated by the nasal mucus and, therefore, we lose a very high percentage of information when it comes to interpreting what we are in the brain eating.

Other "senses" in humans

There are more senses to discover, although they are not directly related to the 5 main blocks that we have shown you. Some of them are associated with touch, while others report internal information that is not directly linked to any of the previously mentioned. In this list, we present some of them:

• Thermoreception: encompasses the perception of heat and its absence. The thermoreceptors of the skin are completely different from those that identify the thermal balance of our internal organism.
• Nociception: perception of pain. Not all pain receptors are found in the skin, as they are also found in joints, bones, and viscera.
• Proprioception: the perception of our own body parts and their location in a three-dimensional space.
• Equilibrioception: perception and maintenance of balance.

It might be thought that thermoreception and nociception are events completely linked to the sense of touch, but this is not always the case. In an intrinsic way, "touch" encompasses everything that we can feel through the skin, but it turns out that heat, Cold and pain can also be perceived in other internalized areas of the body that have little to do with the dermis and epidermis.

An example of this are visceral nociceptors: Most of them are non-specific or high-threshold unmyelinated fibers, but they record the perceived damage to the organs of our body. In this case, information is received from the internal and, therefore, it is unreasonable to link such an event to touch.

Something similar happens with equilibrium.. Yes, the balance system is found in the ear, but it is not explicitly and directly linked to hearing itself. A deaf person may have a good sense of balance, although it is more difficult to maintain posture and avoid falls when such a large amount of information is missing as that collected by the hearing.

Resume

As you have seen, the typical classification of perception channels is making water on many fronts, however useful it may be at an educational and informative level. For example, the map of the tongue has been refuted on multiple occasions, since dividing this organ into circumscribed and clearly delimited taste sections is largely a lack of truth.

On the other hand, human beings "feel" much more than what can be encompassed in sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. The perception of our own body, the balance of our locomotor system, internalized pain and perception of internal heat are physiological events that cannot be fully explained with the senses classics. These dilemmas show that the more we know about our body, the more we have to know about it.

Bibliographic references:

• The sense of sight, oftalvist. Picked up on March 6 in https://www.oftalvist.es/blog/sentido-de-la-vista/
• The sense of taste, EDUMEDIA. Picked up on March 6 in https://www.edumedia-sciences.com/es/media/478-el-sentido-del-gusto#:~:text=El%20gusto%20es%20el%20sentido, of% 20flavor% 20es% 20la% 20language. & text = Also% C3% A9n% 20se% 20illustrates% 20transmission% C3% B3n, through% C3% A9s% 20de% 20the% 20nerve fibers% 20.
• Ear performance, RDR. Picked up on March 6 in https://www.rdr.com.mx/funcionamiento-del-oido/#:~:text=El%20sentido%20del%20o%C3%ADdo%20nos, move% 2C% 20no% 20we lose% 20the% 20balance.
• Perception as a means of development of the individual. (Fundamental factors.), UP. University of Palermo. Picked up on March 6 in https://fido.palermo.edu/servicios_dyc/proyectograduacion/detalle_proyecto.php? project_id = 1126 #: ~: text = The% 20perception% C3% B3n% 20is% 20a% 20project, which% 20occurs% 20in% 20su% 20environment. & text = The% 20be% 20human% 20se% 20distinguishes, by% 20its% 20capacity % 20of% 20reason.