Five Senses of Communication

FIVE SENSES OF COMMUNICATION

Sight

We communicate messages through sight by using visual signals that include facial expressions, gestures and posture (or body language). We receive these signals by using our sense of sight.

When we look at something, light bounces off the object and onto the pupil in the eye. The light crosses the lens of the eye, the picture becomes focused, and then turns upside down. The picture then shines on the retina, at the back of the eye. A retina contains rod cells and cone cells, which are both photoreceptors. These cells let your eye see colours and details. The optic nerve sends a message of this picture to your brain, where the picture is turned the right way up. Your brain then tells you what response you should make to the object that you can see.

Your two eyes help you to judge distances and see much more than you would with just one eye.

Some people who cannot see short or long distances wear glasses or contact lenses to correct their vision. This is different from people who are partially (not completely) or completely blind because their vision cannot be fixed by wearing special glasses. People who are blind may use a cane or guide dog to help them get around.

Hearing

The most common way for humans to communicate is by the sound made through speech. One person speaks and the other person receives the message by hearing it with their ears.

The ear has three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Sounds reach the outer ear first, then travel into the ear canal and finally reach the eardrum. The eardrum is a thin piece of tissue that separates the outer ear and the middle ear. There are three tiny bones in the middle ear that make sounds louder. Sounds from the middle ear travel to the inner ear, where they make tiny hairs inside the cochlea (which looks like a snail) move around. The receptor cells then send signals along the auditory nerve to the brain. The brain changes these signals back into meaningful sound that we can understand. See image 2

We have two ears because it helps us to tell which direction that sounds are coming from.

People who cannot hear through their ears may be partially deaf, which means they still have some hearing, or completely deaf. People may be born deaf or may have lost their hearing through an accident or illness.

Taste

We can communicate by receiving messages through taste. Babies make good use of communicating with their world by tasting things around them.

Taste lets you enjoy the flavour of your favourite foods. You can tell if food has gone off because it tastes unpleasant. Taste also tells you if something is dangerous or poisonous, although you should never taste anything if you think that it might be unsafe. If you look carefully at your tongue you will see tiny little bumps all over it - these are called taste buds. There are four different types of taste buds on your tongue. At the front of your tongue you can taste sweet, on both sides of the tongue you taste sour, at the back you taste bitter, and all over your tongue you taste salty.See image 3

Touch

We communicate with touch by feeling things. People hug to show that they are happy to see each other, shake hands to show that they agree, or put their arms around a person who is upset.

We feel messages that are communicated to us by touch through touch receptors. These are located in groups around the skin and look a bit like tiny onions. When they are squeezed, the layers rub against each other and send electrical signals to the brain. Some touch receptors are more sensitive than others. Sensitive touch receptors can be found on different parts of your body, including your face and your fingers.

Smell

We send and receive messages through smell. We can smell dangerous things like smoke from a fire or poisonous gas. We can also smell pleasant things like flowers or a freshly baked cake. Smell communicates powerful messages to our noses.

When we breathe, air goes into the nose through the nostrils. The air then travels down the back of the mouth and into the throat. Any smell, or odour, that passes through the nasal cavity is stuck to the mucus in your nose. The tiny hairs in your nose, called sensory hairs, sense the odour and send messages to your brain where the smell is identified. The smell receptor cell, which responds to the chemicals in the mucus in your nose, is positioned high up behind the nose.