The Five Senses & Synesthesia

 

In the previous article, we mentioned the senses. Let us process that.

Every human being has 5 sensory organs that carry the stimulus to the brain to produce an emotion and thereafter a feeling when it gets processed through thought. 

These 5 organs are responsible for the sense that we feel - 

1. Visual - What we 'See' through our 'Eyes'

2. Auditory - What we 'Hear' through our 'Ears'

3. Olfactory - What we 'Smell' through our 'Nose'

4. Gustatory - What we 'Taste' through our 'Tongue and Oral Cavity'

5. Tactile - What we physically 'Feel' through our 'Skin'

Any stimulus that is generated external to our bodies is received by the receptor cells of these organs and transmitted to our brain through the pathway of nerves or nerve cells. These pathways reach the Amygdala first, before they reach the pre-frontal cortex. And that's the reason our first reaction to everything external to ourselves is always Emotional.

That is something you cannot control. What you can control however, is how you choose to respond to these external stimuli. This is done by thinking, understanding and evaluating your choices of actions to be taken based on the situation and the time.

So respond... Do not react!!

Synesthesia

One additional thing I'd like to talk about here is the ability known as Synesthesia! This condition takes all the above and mixes it up. It is a rare ability in which our sensory organs experience each other. When you have the ability of synesthesia you are able to experience some of your senses through the non-respective sensory organs. This may be due to cross wiring of the nervous transmissions. 

For example, you hear shapes, you see tastes and so on. This is immediate and automatic and does not take any effort. It is more like a sixth sense and I'm sure it would be an interesting experience. Please be aware though, that this is not a disease or a disorder. It is, like I mentioned earlier, an ability that certain unique individuals are blessed to have!

Emotions & Feelings

 

Let us begin by understanding the difference between Emotions and Feelings. We tend to think that are the same and tend to use them interchangeably.

The difference lies between where the two arise. Emotions originate in the body whereas feelings originate in the mind. Let me explain...

Emotions are bodily functions that are immediate and arise as reactions to a stimulus. The origin is a little organ in our middle brain known as the Amygdala. They are based on the fight, flight or freeze reaction hardwired in us through evolution. They are automatic and cannot be controlled.

                                                                

Feelings on the other hand arise as the end of the process of thinking. It occurs when we let the senses from our sensory organs move to the pre-frontal cortex or the thinking part of our upper brain. This requires a conscious effort of not letting the Amygdala taking control of us, our behaviors and our actions. Feelings are a response more than a reaction. 

So emotions are automatically felt, whereas feelings are consciously thought!