.

A broadly acceptable definition of a sense would be "a system that

consists of a sensory cell type that responds to a specific kind of

physical energy, and that corresponds to a defined region

within the brain where the signals are received and interpreted."

School children are routinely taught that there are five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). The

special senses are the first four of these, touch is specifically excluded

as a special sense. Instead, the various aspects of touch (pain,

heat, pressure) are all categorized as somatic senses.

Somatic sensation consists of the various sensory receptors that trigger the experiences labeled as touch or pressure(hence shape, softness, texture, vibration, etc.), temperature (warm or cold), pain (including itch

and tickle), and the sensations of muscle movement and joint position (including posture, movement, and facial

expression).Touch may simply be considered one of five human senses; however, when a person touches something or somebody this gives rise to various feelings or emotions.

http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/modules/MM/brain/large/large.html#

During special tests, scientists observe that different areas of the brain become active when subject to different stimuli. The above image is a visual representation only, not actual brain test imagery. The areas of the brain that ‘light up’ when feeling pain and empathy are shown in red and blue respectively.

Pain and Empathy

Humans can generally hear sounds with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Human hearing is able to discriminate small differences in loudness (intensity) and pitch (frequency) over that large range of audible sound. The ear is sensitive to a change in pressure equal to

1X10-10 atmospheres . "Computation Provides a Virtual Recording of Auditory Signaling", Public Library of Science Biology, January 2005, Volume 3, Issue 1, e26, graphic ref. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030026.g001

Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that travels through matter as a longitudinal wave. Sound is characterized by the properties of sound waves, which are frequency, wavelength,

period, amplitude, and speed.

Auditory

primary auditory cortex

Neurons in the auditory cortex are organized according to the frequency of sound to which they respond best.

Neurons at one end of the auditory cortex respond best to low frequencies; neurons at the other respond best to

high frequencies.

The auditory cortex is the most highly organized processing unit of

sound in the brain. This cortex

area controls hearing,

language and music.

The visible part is called the pinna and functions to collect and focus sound waves. Some humans can move the pinna (with the

auriculares muscles).

Outer ear (Pinna, or auricle)

From the pinna the sound pressure waves move into the

ear canal, a simple tube running to the middle ear. This tube amplifies frequencies in the

range 3 kHz to 12 kHz.

Middle ear The middle ear contains three ossicles, which amplify vibration of the eardrum into pressure waves in the fluid in the

inner ear. The eustachian tube joins the tympanic cavity with the nasal cavity, allowing pressure to equalize between

the inner ear and throat.

Ordinarily, when sound waves in air strike liquid, more than 99% of the energy is

reflected off the surface of the liquid. The middle ear allows the impedance

matching of sound traveling in air and sound traveling in liquid, overcoming the

interface between them.

eustachian tube

The movement of the ossicles may be stiffened by two muscles, the stapedius and tensor tympani, which are under the control of the facial nerve and

trigeminal nerve, respectively. These muscles contract in response to loud sounds, thereby

reducing the transmission of sound to the inner ear. incus

malleus

stapes

Inner ear The inner ear is the bony

labyrinth, a system of passages

comprising two main functional

parts:(1)the organ of

hearing, or cochlea

and the (2) vestibular

apparatus, the organ of balance that consists of

three semicircular

canals and the vestibule.

The vestibule is the region of the inner ear where the semicircular canals converge, close to the cochlea (the hearing organ). The vestibular system works with the visual system to keep

objects in focus when the head is moving. The brain receives, interprets, and processes the

information from these systems that control our balance.

The semicircular canals are three half-circular,

interconnected tubes located inside each ear. Because the

angles between the canals are not perpendicular, movements of

the head stimulate horizontal and vertical canals

simultaneously.

FunctionFunctionIn brief: the In brief: the cochleacochlea is filled is filled with a with a watery liquidwatery liquid, which , which moves in response to the moves in response to the

vibrationsvibrations coming from the coming from the middle ear. As the fluid middle ear. As the fluid

moves, thousands of moves, thousands of "hair "hair cellscells" are set in motion, and " are set in motion, and

convert that motion to convert that motion to electrical signalselectrical signals that are that are

communicated via communicated via neurotransmitters to many neurotransmitters to many thousands of nerve cells. thousands of nerve cells.

Language Acquisition

The "critical period" is a time in the early stages of a human’s life during which critical language skills are developed. If the organism does not receive the appropriate

stimulus during this "critical period", it may

be difficult, or even impossible, to develop some functions later in

life.

Broca's area is the section of the human brain (in the frontal lobe of

the cortex) that is involved in language processing, speech

production.

Wernicke's area is on the auditory cortex (part of the brain where the

temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet). Wernicke’s area is where the

specialized language skill areas can be found for the majority of people and is particularly known to be involved in the understanding and comprehension of

spoken language. . http://www.brainconnection.com/teasers/?main=illusion/back-speech

Optical Illusions and Vision

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

The visual cortex is the most massive system in the human brain and is

responsible for higher-level processing of the visual image. It lies at the rear of the brain (highlighted in the image), above

the cerebellum.

“To suppose that the eye, (with so many parts all working together)…could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” Charles Darwin

Vision

The visual system interprets the information from visible light to build a representation of the world

surrounding the body.

RetinaThe retina consists of a large

number of photoreceptor cells which contain a particular

protein molecule called an opsin. In humans, there are two types of opsins, rod opsins and cone opsins. Either opsin absorbs a photon (a particle of light) and transmits a signal to the cell through a signal transduction

pathway.

In the retina about 130 million

photoreceptors absorb light and

roughly 1.2 million axons transmit

information from the retina to the

brain.

The information about the image via the eye is transmitted to the brain along the optic nerve. In humans, the optic nerve is connected directly to the brain.

Rods and cones differ in function. Rods are

found primarily in the periphery of the retina and are used to see at

low levels of light. Cones are found

primarily in the center (or fovea) of the retina. There are three types of cones that differ in the

wavelengths of light they absorb; they are usually

called short or blue, middle or green, and long or red.

Cones are used primarily to distinguish color and other features of the visual world

at normal levels of light.

Hyperopia

Hyperopia, colloquially as

farsightedness, is a defect of vision

in which light produces an image focus behind the

retina.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a refractive defect of the eye

in which light produces an

image focus in front of the

retina.

Myopia

Normal vision

Macular degener-ation

View your own retinal blood vessels! Try it yourself –Blind Spot

A O X

Instructions: Your face should be very close to the screen. Cover right eye and focus the left eye on the X. Now slowly move away from the screen.The O will disappear, while the A which is further to the left is still visible. (Observe that you do not see a hole. Instead of the O you see a uniform grey background. The "hole" is filled in by your brain. Make sure there is not a glare on the screen as it will obscure the whole vision.)

The olfactory system is the sensory system used for smell. The accessory olfactory system senses

pheromones. The olfactory system is often spoken of along with the gustatory system as the

chemosensory senses because both transduce chemical signals into perception. Function

The olfactory system must accomplish several tasks:*Create a representation of the odor *Determine the concentration of the odor *Distinguish a new odor from the background environmental odors *Pair the odor with a memory of what the odor represents

Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator

Odorants are inhaled and then transduced into electrical signals which then travel along the olfactory nerve into the olfactory bulb. Axons from

the olfactory sensory neurons converge in the olfactory bulb to form tangles called glomeruli. Inside the glomulerus, the axons contact the

dendrites of mitral cells. Mitral cells send their axons to a number of brain areas, including the amygdala.

Olfaction and tasteOlfaction, taste, and trigeminal receptors together contribute to flavor. The human tongue can only

distinguish among seven to eight distinct types of taste, while the nose can distinguish among hundreds of substances, even in minute quantities. Olfaction

amplifies the sense of taste. Odor information is easily

stored in long term memory and has strong connections

to emotional memory. This is possibly due to the olfactory system's close anatomical

ties to the hippocampus and amygdala, areas of the brain that have long been known to be involved in emotion.

The gustatory system is the sensory system that uses taste buds (or lingual papillae) on the upper surface of the tongue to provide information about the taste of food being eaten.

There are at least four types of taste "bud"

(receptor) on the tongue. The inabilty to taste is

called ageusia.It is known that there are four

taste sensations:

Sweet, Bitter, Salty, and

Sour.

In humans, the sense of taste is conveyed

via three of the twelve cranial

nerves. The facial nerve (VII) carries

taste sensations from the anterior two

thirds of the tongue, the glossopharyngeal

nerve (IX) carries taste sensations from

the posterior one third of the tongue

while a branch of the vagus nerve (X)

carries some taste sensations from the

back of the oral cavity.

The human tongue

has about 10,000 taste buds.

Taste is a form of chemoreception which occurs in specialized receptors in the

mouth. serotonin is thought to act as an intermediary hormone which

communicates with taste cells within a taste bud, mediating the signals being

sent to the brain.

Each of the five senses activates a separate area of the cerebral cortex, the

sheet of neurons that makes up the outer layer

of the brain's hemispheres.

http://www.hhmi.org/senses/a150.html

Scott T. Barrows- National Geographic Society

Summary (another example of WPP)

Verses about our special sensesVerses about our special senses!

Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Deuteronomy 29:2-4

"Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place………

…. 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

2 Chronicles 6- 7:16 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:8-10

Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.Proverbs 20:11-13

Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?Psalm 94:8-10

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.Job 42:4-6

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" —1 Corinthians 2:8-10

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.Isaiah 64:3-5

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.Revelation 1:6-8

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!“

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Larynx_external_en.svg

Species Lived when (mya) Lived where Adult height Adult mass Brain volume

(cm³) Fossil recordDiscovery / publication of name

H. habilis 2.2 – 1.6 Africa 1.0–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft)

33–55 kg (73–120 lb) 660 many 1960/1964

H. erectus 2 – 0.03Africa, Eurasia (Java, China, Caucasus)

1.8 m (5.9 ft) 60 kg (130 lb) 850 (early) – 1100 (late) many 1891/1892

H. rudolfensis 1.9 Kenya 1 skull 1972/1986

H. georgicus 1.8 Republic of Georgia 600 few 1999/2002

H. ergaster 1.9 – 1.4 E. and S. Africa 1.9 m (6.2 ft) 700–850 many 1975

H. antecessor 1.2 – 0.8 Spain 1.75 m (5.7 ft) 90 kg (200 lb) 1000 2 sites 1997

H. cepranensis 0.9 – 0.8? Italy 1000 1 skull cap 1994/2003

H. heidelbergensis 0.6 – 0.25 Europe, Africa,

China 1.8 m (5.9 ft) 60 kg (130 lb) 1100–1400 many 1908

H. neanderthalensis 0.35 – 0.03 Europe, W.

Asia 1.6 m (5.2 ft)55–70 kg (120–150 lb) (heavily built)

1200–1700 many (1829)/1864

H. rhodesiensis 0.3 – 0.12 Zambia 1300 very few 1921

H. sapiens sapiens 0.2 – present worldwide 1.4–1.9 m

(4.6–6.2 ft)50–100 kg (110–220 lb) 1000–1850 still living —/1758

H. sapiens idaltu 0.16 – 0.15 Ethiopia 1450 3 craniums 1997/2003

H. floresiensis 0.10 – 0.012 Indonesia 1.0 m (3.3 ft) 25 kg (55 lb) 400 7 individuals 2003/2004