Table of Contents
What are the general and special senses?
Special and General Senses Special senses include vision (for which the eyes are the specialized sense organs), hearing (ears), balance (ears), taste (tongue), and smell (nasal passages). General senses , in contrast, are all associated with the sense of touch. They lack special sense organs.
What is the main function of the group of special senses?
The principle function of the special sensory receptors is to detect environmental stimuli and transduce their energy into electrical impulses. These are then conveyed along sensory neurons to the central nervous system, where they are integrated and processed, and a response is produced.
How do you maintain your special senses?
Follow a healthy lifestyle – avoid smoking, take exercise and eat a healthy diet. Ensure a healthy environment – wear sunglasses when needed and limit exposure to very loud noise. Be alert to any marked or sudden change in our senses and seek medical advice promptly.
What is the most important general sense?
By far the most important organs of sense are our eyes. We perceive up to 80% of all impressions by means of our sight. And if other senses such as taste or smell stop working, it’s the eyes that best protect us from danger.
Which are examples of general senses?
The general senses are pain, temperature, touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception. Receptors for those sensations are distributed throughout the body. A sensory receptor is a specialized cell that, when stimulated, sends a sensation to the CNS.
Why are the five senses important?
The five senses – sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell – collect information about our environment that are interpreted by the brain. We respond almost automatically to most sensory information. Such response is important for survival in our environment.
What are the major classes of general senses?
Humans have five basic senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. The sensing organs associated with each sense send information to the brain to help us understand and perceive the world around us.
Which are examples of special senses?
Humans have five special senses: olfaction (smell), gustation (taste), equilibrium (balance and body position), vision, and hearing. Additionally, we possess general senses, also called somatosensation, which respond to stimuli like temperature, pain, pressure, and vibration.
How to take care of your special senses?
By getting adequate rest, reducing stress, drinking healthy amounts of good-quality drinking water, not smoking, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol (or not drinking at all), following a proper diet, and exercising regularly, a person can help his or her body to operate at peak efficiency.
How to recognise and support healthy body systems?
Recognise and promote ways to support healthy functioning of the body 2.2 Evaluate how the relationships between different body systems affect and support healthy functioning 2.3 Enhance quality of work activities by using and sharing information about healthy functioning of the body
How are the special senses affected by aging?
As stated earlier, aging brings about a decline in the functioning of the special senses. Older people often do not see, hear, smell, and taste as well as they once did. This decline is often gradual and, for the most part, affects the quality of an individual’s life to a modest degree.
How are the four senses interpreted by the nervous system?
People are responsive creatures; hold freshly baked bread before us, and our mouths water; a sudden clap of thunder makes us jump; these “irritants” and many others are the stimuli that continually greet us and are interpreted by our nervous system; the four “traditional” senses—smell, taste, sight, and hearing- are called special senses.