Debunking popular myths

Science exposed: The 10 senses you didn't know you had

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Contrary to popular belief, our body is capable of perceiving a lot more than what sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch have to offer. Scientists studying perception have discovered at least 30 senses in addition to the five described by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago. These complementary senses are called interoceptors, since they allow us to recognize and feel our inner sensations. Join us to learn about 10 senses you didn't know you had!

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Kinaesthesia is a sense that allows us to perceive the position, movement, and state of our body, internal and external. In our daily activities, we hardly notice it, but it’s there, working for us all the time.

This process is, in turn, subdivided into two senses: proprioception —the perception of our body in the space around us— and interoception —the perception of our internal organs. But we will look into these two in more detail below.

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Proprioception is the ability to perceive the position and movement of our limbs and torso, which allows us to control our body during daily activities. It is, in turn, the innate ability to discern the position and movement of body parts independently of visual information.

This faculty involves an intricate interplay between muscle memory, spatial awareness, and feedback from muscles and joints. It is fundamental to perform complex movements with precision. Thanks to proprioception, you can tell where your different body parts are located, even if your eyes are closed or you are not looking at your body.

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Interoception is the ability to sense our organism, providing information about the functioning or dysfunction of the internal organs. Although often underestimated, interoception is vital for survival: it helps us to maintain body balance and allows us to perceive when we are injured, when something is wrong with our body, when we need more oxygen, or to eat or drink water.

Interoceptive receptors are distributed throughout the body, usually in all the major organs and blood vessels. However, not all people's interoceptive receptors function correctly, which can cause different problems. These alterations can be due to excess or deficit; there may be a hypersensitivity that causes the interoceptive receptors to be activated with little stimulation, or they may not be triggered at all.

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This one's tricky. It is hard to define because it is a more abstract sense. In appearance, it is similar to interoception and proprioception, but it is a bit more complex. Cenesthesia is described as the awareness of being alive, the sensation of well-being or feeling sick. It is the name given to the singular set of sensations that an individual possesses of his or her own body.

In other words, everyone feels different: this unique and intangible experience of the inner self is cenesthesia.

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Nociception is a neural process by which the body handles potentially harmful stimuli against body tissues. The term was coined by the British neurophysiologist Charles Scott Sherrington to describe the physiological process of pain. It derives from the Latin nocere, meaning "to damage".

This mechanism is crucial to protect the organism, as it allows us to identify and react to external injuries or aggressions. However, there are several disorders that can alter the way some people perceive pain.

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Thermoception is the ability to perceive temperature and is a critical sensory function. It relies on thermal receptors in the skin, which send signals to the brain through specific nerve fibers. These receptors respond to different temperature ranges, allowing us to distinguish between cold, hot, and neutral temperatures.

Thermoception also allows us to adapt to different temperatures. But this ability varies from person to person. People sense temperature changes differently due to factors such as age, lifestyle habits, and health problems. In fact, some people with certain medical conditions like diabetes or Parkinson's, for example, may have difficulty sensing and reacting to temperature changes.

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As its name suggests, equilibrioception is the sense of balance and is one of the most important physiological senses. Basically, it is the sense that gives us spatial awareness and allows us to walk without falling. It involves the visual system and the vestibular system through the inner ear.

In humans, balance develops during the first years of life and begins to decline in old age. Some animals have this sense more developed than humans; for example, cats can walk and keep their balance on very narrow surfaces using their inner ears and tails without falling.

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Our perception of time is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, deeply rooted in the brain’s neurological processes. This intricate sense, called chronoception, is not just a passive recording of events, but an active construction of temporal experiences.

There are no "time receptors" in the body, so it’s not a traditional sense. Chronoception is a sophisticated cognitive and emotional process that not only has a neurological basis but also a psychological dimension influenced by age, culture, biological rhythms, and temporal illusions.

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Simply put, baresthesia is the sense responsible for detecting pressure changes in the body. This function is carried out by specialized receptors located primarily in the skin, muscles, joints, and other tissues.

Baresthesia is essential for the regulation of balance, posture, and proper interaction with the environment. Alterations related to this sense are associated with several medical conditions, including spinal cord injuries, strokes, and degenerative disorders, among others.

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Not all human beings have developed this sense. It refers to the perception of smells when listening to music, or even smelling and tasting colors. In other words, it is the joint perception or interference of several types of feelings from different senses in the same perceptive act.

A synaesthete can, for example, hear colors, see sounds, or perceive taste when touching an object with a certain texture.

THE WEIRD AND THE WONDERFUL

Learn About 10 English Idioms And Then You Can "Hit The Hay"!

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Language is complex and rich, but we often use it without even thinking about where our words and expressions come from. For example, have you ever thought about the origins of the idiom "upset the apple cart"? And what about "hit the hay"? Idiomatic expressions can be quite daunting, and we’ve gathered 10 of them to explore their meanings and origins. Continue reading if you want to find out, too!

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Quite a strong start, isn’t it? This idiom, with a vivid image and quite dark humor behind it, is simply amazing and it means to discard something valuable (the baby, one can only assume) along with things that are not wanted or valued (the bath water).

Origins are not so certain, but it is probably derived from a German expression ("Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten"), and it was first recorded in 1853 by a German-to-English translator.

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Have you ever had a perfectly laid plan with a well-defined course of action, only for it to derail, ruining everything? You could say someone "upset the apple cart."

That is what the idiom means: to obstruct or derail someone’s plan, especially if it is to hinder progress. In short, to spoil everything.

The phrase dates back to the 1700s and derives from a Roman phrase which originally was "upset the cart."

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You’ve had a long day, so you just want to get home, have a nice dinner, and get ready to hit the hay. Does that sound familiar? That is because this idiom is used quite frequently in everyday English, but have you ever wondered about its origins?

One can always say, "Go to bed," but the idiom is much more fun. And its origin is not metaphoric at all; it’s right there in the phrase. When beds weren’t accessible for everyone, hays (or sacks in the alternate version) were the bed of choice, hence this fun (but itchy) idiom!

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The good thing about idioms is that they usually don’t hold a literal meaning; just imagine chewing the fat! This idiom has to do with engaging in a conversation about trivial matters or small talk.

This phrase can be traced back to British English of the 1880s, and an alternate version is "chew the rag," although why any of these words were chosen to refer to gossip is not known. Maybe it has to do with how juicy fat can get; what do you think?

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When John Lennon wrote, "Imagine all the people living life in peace," we could easily say that it was just a pie in the sky.

A pie in the sky refers to that impossible thing one hopes happens. It refers to wishful thinking, and it is part of a larger chant: "Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get a pie in the sky when you die." Can you guess who chanted this? It was a rallying song called "The Preacher and the Slave," composed by Joe Hill and sung by the International Workers of the World in 1911.

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Animals in idioms are a dime a dozen; there are hundreds of them. And this one mentions a goat, but it actually comes from the world of horse racing.

Before a race, goats were placed next to horses to make them feel calm. Now, when someone got someone else’s goat, that horse got agitated. So, you guessed it: to get someone’s goat means to make someone feel angry or annoyed!

If you think this one is crazy, wait until you read the next one!

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Try to leave aside the fact that a hat and cattle have absolutely nothing in common and think of that person who is always talking about the things they’ll do, but never actually do anything. That person is all hat and no cattle.

This idiom is quite popular and takes several forms. For example, the British version is "All mouth and no trousers," and you’ve probably heard the phrase "Much ado about nothing." They are all synonyms!

This one, in particular, refers to cattle ranchers and the typical hat they use, describing those cowboys who used the hat but weren’t actually cattle owners.

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Well, things are getting pretty creepy here, aren’t they? Fear not; this idiom is much milder than it seems!

Originating in the 17th century, when wealthy people wore wigs quite often, bandits pulled them over people’s faces to make the job of taking their pennies easier for them. In time, the phrase came to describe those who are easily deceived and taken advantage of. Here’s one we hope you never use!

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Please do tell us if you think otherwise, but we don’t think sliced bread is something to get crazy over, right? Well, in the 1920s, when sliced bread made its first appearance, it surely was a great thing. So much so it became an idiom!

What it means is simply that nothing so great happened after sliced bread, until the topic you’re discussing. For example: "Look at this article; it’s the best thing since sliced bread!"

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Let’s end this list with a cute idiom. Aren’t baby animals the cutest? Especially when they are around their mommies, and they lick their offspring to bathe them.

But why does the idiom mention the ears? Well, because that’s the last place to dry in a newborn. On a similar note, this cute idiom -which can be traced back to the early 1900s- is used to refer to people who lack experience or are immature. This one describes us all at one point or another, doesn’t it?