Did You Know? Humans Have More Than 5 Senses!

We learn about our 5 senses in grade school: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. Intuition is called our sixth sense.

But we have been mislead all along!

Scientists and neurologists differ with the exact number, but they all agree humans have between 9 and 30 senses!

They argue that taste itself is 5 senses as the brain detects and responds to each of the 5 taste receptors differently- sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami (savory). Sight is agreed to be technically two senses- color and brightness.

Definition of a "sense"

In order to have a sense, we need a sensor! Aristotle (384-322 bc) did the best with what he had at the time, and I'm sure he's doing a facepalm at not having realized just how many more senses there are than the 5 he is noted for classifying.

More senses that make up the human experience:

Thirst
Hunger
Pressure
Itch
Muscle Tension- receptors in your muscles help your brain monitor tension.
Time, or Chronoception
Pain- there are three distinct pain senses: cutaneous (skin), somatic (bones and joints), and visceral (body organs).
Direction
Blood Oxygen- a sense which triggers your brain when there is not enough O2 in your body.
Proprioception- knowing where your body parts are, relative to other body parts. This is why you can close your eyes and touch your nose (unless you're drunk) and scratch the itch on your foot without ever looking to see where to put your hand.
Chemoreceptors- trigger an area of the brain which detects blood born hormones and drugs. It also controls the vomiting reflex.
Equilibrioception- allows you to keep your balance and perceive gravity.
Stretch Receptors - found in the lungs, stomach, bladder, blood vessels, and the gastrointestinal tract. For instance, it tells you when your stomach is stretched and you are full.
Temperature, or Thermoreception- the ability to sense heat and cold. These are actually two senses as different mechanisms for detection are used by the brain.
Magnetoception- The ability to detect magnetic fields, which is used to provide a sense of direction when detecting the Earth’s magnetic field. Unlike birds, humans do not have a strong magentoception, however experiments show that we are able to sense magnetic fields.