Your senses are how your body discovers and understands the world around it. We all know the traditional five senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell. But these five are just the beginning. Our incredible bodies may actually have more than twenty senses including hunger, thirst and knowing when to go to the toilet. In order for us to have senses, we need sensors to detect them. Sensors include our eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. Not to mention the other sensors, like our blood, bladder and large intestine!
Eyes
Your eyes have two different types of light sensors: rod cells and cone cells. Our rod cells are used to sense light intensity, and they respond when you are in low light. There are also three cone cells which sense each of the primary colours (red, green and blue). These cone cells require bright light to sense colour.
Tongue
Your tongue contains chemical receptors that give you a sense of taste. Yum, yum!
Ears
There are sound sensors in your inner ear that respond to vibrating soundwaves, as well as sensors that detect your position in the Earth’s gravitational field to give you a sense of balance!
Skin
Your skin is an amazing sensor, and a busy one too! Your sense of touch, pain, temperature and itchiness are all thanks to at least five different types of nerve endings that live beneath your skin.
Nose
Inside your nose there are hundreds of different chemical sensors that give you a sense of smell.
Blood
There are chemical sensors in your blood that check salt and glucose levels, and these sensors are how your body knows to tell you when you’re hungry and thirsty.
Bladder & Intestines
The reason you know when it’s time to go to the toilet is because of the sensors inside your bladder and large intestine.
Sixth sense
There are some people who claim to have other special senses too, such as feeling like they know when someone is looking at them or being able to tell when a weather change is coming. Do you have a special sixth sense?
