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The eight senses

alpha music brain waves relaxation and sleep sensory calming
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The eight senses

alpha music brain waves relaxation and sleep sensory calming
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the eight senses

Everyone has heard of our five senses, so most people sound confused when we say there are actually eight. The five commonly known senses are the easiest to describe, but the other three are no less important in our every day lives.

Our fact file articles introduce each sense and its purpose. These fact files look at finding your sensory comfort zone, and sensory seeking and avoidant behaviours. They also provide activity suggestions and how to use or regulate the sense for calming.

The famous five

Touch, or the tactile sense, is a complex sense that is primarily based in and under the skin. It senses texture, pressure, temperature and pain.
Sight, or the visual sense, involves the perception of the world using the eyes.
Smell, or the olfactory sense, is a chemosensory sense based in the nose.
Hearing, or the auditory sense, is the perception of sounds by the ear. The ear detects audible vibrations in the air.
Taste, or the gustatory sense, is located primarily in the mouth. It works with the sense of smell to provide our perception of flavour.

Three lesser known senses

Interoception is one of the less well known senses. It is the perception of our internal organs and systems. This covers awareness of needing to go to the toilet, or to eat, some types of pain, tiredness, and body temperature. Interoception ensures that we act to maintain our basic life supporting functions.
The vestibular sense relates to our movement, and orientation. The vestibular sense lets us know whether we are moving, even if we cannot see the world around us. It is linked to balance and movement, and it receives much of its information from the ear.
Proprioception is the sense that helps us to recognise our body’s position in space. It is the sense that provides the awareness of the edges of our body. We need is for fine motor control, and so
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