Throughout any given day humans see, touch, feel, hear, and smell multiple times. Rarely do we stop and think about what each sense really means and how it works. Luckily this article isn’t about the anatomy of the five senses but instead about some little known facts you may not be aware of.
Seeing
Have you ever watched a movie where someone is entering into a high security place and in order to enter they have to press their hand against a glass? Did you know the same could be done with your eye! The two main components of the eye are the iris and retina which are as unique as your fingerprint. Irises give the eye its color and retinas provide depth and distinction between light and dark. Retinas are made up of millions of muscles that open the pupil. You may have noticed your pupil becomes larger and smaller when moving from light to dark places. Quite the workout, don’t you think?
Hearing
Our ear is made up of three different bones that happen to be the smallest bones in our entire body. These bones include the anvil, stirrup, and hammer. These bones pass sound from the ear drum to the inner ear. Have you ever had an ear ache or clogged ear and felt off balance? This is because the inner ear maintains your equilibrium. Sound information is passed from the inner ear to the brain and depends on the brain to identify the given sound.
Smelling/Tasting
It takes up to 10 million small receptors to smell roughly 10,000 different odors! Unlike your smell receptors, taste buds decrease from 10,000 at birth to roughly 5,000 by the time you are old. Smell and taste are extremely dependent on each other, taste making up about 80% of smell.
Touch
We now know what the smallest bone is in the body but what is the largest organ? Your skin! Bet you didn’t consider your skin an organ, did you? While the human head weighs roughly 8 lbs, skin weighs anywhere from 6-10 lbs. Did you know that touch is mostly designed to detect pain? Receptors found in the skin detect hot or cold and pressure or movement.
The human body utilizes muscles, nerves, receptors, and bones to bring all five senses to life. While not all of the senses are dependent on each other, all senses have to work with the brain to send information and identify the image, sound, smell, taste, or touch.
Seeing
Have you ever watched a movie where someone is entering into a high security place and in order to enter they have to press their hand against a glass? Did you know the same could be done with your eye! The two main components of the eye are the iris and retina which are as unique as your fingerprint. Irises give the eye its color and retinas provide depth and distinction between light and dark. Retinas are made up of millions of muscles that open the pupil. You may have noticed your pupil becomes larger and smaller when moving from light to dark places. Quite the workout, don’t you think?
Hearing
Our ear is made up of three different bones that happen to be the smallest bones in our entire body. These bones include the anvil, stirrup, and hammer. These bones pass sound from the ear drum to the inner ear. Have you ever had an ear ache or clogged ear and felt off balance? This is because the inner ear maintains your equilibrium. Sound information is passed from the inner ear to the brain and depends on the brain to identify the given sound.
Smelling/Tasting
It takes up to 10 million small receptors to smell roughly 10,000 different odors! Unlike your smell receptors, taste buds decrease from 10,000 at birth to roughly 5,000 by the time you are old. Smell and taste are extremely dependent on each other, taste making up about 80% of smell.
Touch
We now know what the smallest bone is in the body but what is the largest organ? Your skin! Bet you didn’t consider your skin an organ, did you? While the human head weighs roughly 8 lbs, skin weighs anywhere from 6-10 lbs. Did you know that touch is mostly designed to detect pain? Receptors found in the skin detect hot or cold and pressure or movement.
The human body utilizes muscles, nerves, receptors, and bones to bring all five senses to life. While not all of the senses are dependent on each other, all senses have to work with the brain to send information and identify the image, sound, smell, taste, or touch.
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