How Many Senses Do We Have?

Is there such as thing as a sense of timing? What about a sense of direction? Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett delves into the different ways we’re able to perceive the world that go beyond sight, sound, touch, taste and smell…

- Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett

Assuming you equate senses with their receptors, such as the retinas in your eyes and the cochlea in your ears, then the traditional answer to this question is five – seeing, hearing, touch, smell and taste. They’re called the ‘exteroceptive’ senses because they carry information about the external world. But your body also has receptors for events occurring inside you, such as your beating heart, expanding lungs, gurgling stomach and many other movements that you’re completely unaware of. They’re traditionally grouped together as another sense, called ‘interoception’.

SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT…