Monday, May 15, 2017

Itching, and more, are other senses than our five senses

You may have heard the words "sixth sense," meaning an extraordinary power. Thus, humans have only five kinds of sense; sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

But Chris Eccleston, a British psychologist, says that there are more than five senses we have. And he claims that several senses are paid attention for better medical treatment.

Sydney Morning Herald: Forget the sixth sense. Meet the 10 neglected senses that could help the way we treat pain

According to him, senses other than traditional five are motion, balance, pain, pressure, fatigue, breathing, temperature, appetite, expulsion, and itch.


This explanation sounds rational. All we can feel and understand these senses. Indeed, it has been proven that the receptor of pressure is different from the receptor of touch. For example, you get anesthetized before your tooth pulled out. You may feel the sense the presence of your sick tooth being lost, despite the absence of any pain.

Prof. Eccleston also commented that itch is contagious. I am doubtful to his idea, however. I am not sure that there are some clinical trials to examine this hypothesis. If the itch is infectious, we will feel itch even if you cannot see the person in front of you itching his skin.

I guess we imagine the itching sense when confronting a person suffering from itch. Thus, it is no other than empathy. As well, we feel pain when seeing a man with a painful face.

Nevertheless, we are now ready to think more deeply about our senses. In the near future, "sixth sense" will be no more available, perhaps.

No comments:

Post a Comment