Five Senses
The five senses are an important part of many of the science disciplines. Beyond human anatomy, the five senses also branch into communications, biology and human anatomy. Paper Masters will custom write a research paper on the five senses or you may use the information here to pick your own topic on this wonder of human anatomy.
Most people learn in grade school that human beings have five senses:
- Taste
- Touch
- Sight
- Hearing
- Smell
The senses are physiological characteristics that allow the individual to receive outside stimuli. This information is then processed by the brain.
Five Senses Specifically
Each of the five senses has a scientific name, as well. Taste (gustaoception) occurs when some substance in the mouth reacts with the taste buds, located on the top of the tongue which categorize the taste sensation into one of five categories: sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami.
Sight (opthalmoception), occurs when the brain processes visible light. Light passes through the lens of the eye, causing the eye to focus an object on the retina before the sensory information passes along the optic never to the brain.
Touch (tactioception) is also known as tactile perception. A neuron in the body is triggered by a stimulus, such as heat, which sends a signal to a specific part of the brain so that the stimulus is registered in the correct location, the fingertips for example.
Hearing
Hearing (audioception) occurs when sound waves travel into the ear and vibrate against the ear drum. Smell (olfacoception) occurs when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated. Information is then processed in the human brain.