The Myth of the Five Senses

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The Myth of the Five Senses

We see with our eyes and taste with our tongues. Ears are for hearing, skin is for feeling and noses are for smelling. Would anyone claim that ears can smell, or that tongues can see? As a matter of fact, yes. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, believes that the senses are interchangeable; for instance, a tongue can be used for seeing. This "revolutionary" study actually stems from a relatively popular concept among scientists; that the brain is an accommodating organ. It will attempt to carry out the same function, even when part of it is damaged, by redirecting the function to another area of the brain. As opposed to previous mainstream scientist's understanding that the brain is compartmentalized, it is now more acceptable that the individual "parts" of the brain could be somewhat interchangeable (1).

For the purpose of scientific exploration, are the sensory organs interchangeable as well? Could a nose function as an ear, for example? If the brain is what actually sees and the eyes serve only as information receptors, and if one could say the same about taste, smell, hearing and touch, then does it matter which external organ the sensory information is received by? Our external organs all act as receptors of the information (5), so can one type of receptor be replaced by another and still produce the same experience?

Bach-y-Rita's experiments suggest that "we experience the five senses, but where the data comes from may not be so important" (1). In the article "Can You See With Your Tongue?" the journalist was blindfolded with a small video camera strapped to his forehead, connected to a long plastic strip which was inserted into his mouth. A lap...

... middle of paper ...

... the external organs is a concept worthy of more attention and exploration, and it will explored more easily when the old, rather arbitrary myth of the five senses is discarded.

References

1) Discover Magazine Online, Go to the article "Can you see With Your Tongue?"

http://www.discover.com/science_news/index.html

2) an article that clearly states there are seven senses.

http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~wpoff/senses.html

3) an article about migration and possible explanations.

http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/awareness_and_action/conserve_species_habitats/

4)Discover Magazine Online Go to the article "A Fish's Sixth Sense"

http://www.discover.com/science_news/index.html

5)Sensory Receptors a very informative site about more sensory organs as receptors, and other scientific explanation of the senses.

http://courses.nnu.edu/bi362bf/sensory.htm

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