Transcript *Sense*-itive Issues

Exploring the Relationships Among the Five
Senses
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1. If you had to give up one of your senses
(hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch), which
would you choose & why?
2. Describe a situation in which one of your
remaining senses would help you compensate
for the loss of the 5th sense.
3. Is one sense more valuable than any other?
4. How easily can a person adapt to the loss
of a particular sense? (i.e. if you were born
with all 5 senses but then lost 1)
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5. What technologies have been developed to
help people who have lost some or all of a
particular sense?
6. How is information from one sense amplified
by another sense (e.g. would you be able to smell
as well if you could not see what you were
smelling?)
7. Which do you think is worse: not being born
with a particular sense at all, or losing that
particular sense later in life? Why?
8. If you were a superhero, what would your
special ability be? Why?
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The loss of hearing is called audition. Sound
is detected through vibrations in the ear.
◦ Responses to hearing loss include:
 Hearing aids http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightlynews/52173658#52173658
 Cochlear implants – this is a clip of a child hearing his
parents for the first time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzTt1VnHRM
 Ability to communicate with Sign language & /or Lipreading
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9. For fun… everyone be quiet & close your
eyes. Write down all sounds you hear
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Sight (or vision) allows people to see. Color
blindness in a form of vision impairment
◦ Responses to blindness
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Glasses/contacts
Brail (ability to read)
Laser eye surgery
Bionic eye
2013 a neural implant gave rats the ability to see
infrared light
For fun… how do your eyes adjust?
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chvisi
on.html
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The loss of smell (olfaction) is anosmia
◦ As a result, people may find food less appetizing, &
may have problems detecting gas leaks or spoiled
food
◦ Your attraction to people is associated with your
pheromone smell (that’s generally why males are
taller than females as they smell their hair for
attraction purposes)
◦ Loss of smell can cause depression because you
often associate your memories with smells
◦ The olfactory receptor neurons differ because they
regularly die & regenerate on a regular basis
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Smells are generally strong, pleasant or
neutral
◦ http://www.aol.com/article/2014/10/02/losingyour-sense-of-smell-study-says-fear-theworst/20971252/
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10. For fun… what do you smell?
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The ability to sense touch is somatosensory.
◦ You can perceive touch through skin, tongue, throat
◦ There are changes in pressure (firm, brushing,
sustained) touch
◦ The loss of touch is called tactile anesthesia
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Responses to loss of touch
◦ Bionic arm/legs
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGi7dnapm08
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ue0Rb02_SU
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11. For fun… describe the texture of what
you feel
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The ability to taste is gustation
◦ There are 5 different tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty,
unami (pleasant/savory)
◦ Exposure to different foods at an early age can increase
your food preferences
◦ Taste buds can change over time (so foods you may not
used to like, you may eventually enjoy)
◦ Some people are extremely sensitive to certain tastes
(cilantro, onion, etc)
◦ http://videos.howstuffworks.com/tlc/29844understanding-taste-buds-video.htm
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12. For fun… what do you taste? How would you
describe these foods?
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Born with all of her
senses, at age 2
after an illness, she
became blind, deaf
& mute
◦ Her story is one of
overcoming obstacles
as she learned to
communicate, went
to college, & became
a motivation to many