How Do You Sense Your Own Body -- And How Can That Go Wrong?

can you reach out towards something and grasp it. But if you don't look or pay close attention, the object will either slip out of your hand because you're holding it too loosely, or you'll squeeze up with such intensity that your knuckles go pale. The ability to feel our bodies to unconsciously sense them, is known as propri exception. It's sometimes referred to as the secret sense or the

sixth sense. Unlike our five senses sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, which are obvious to us, the sense of controlling and owning our own bodies is hidden. We're usually unaware of the sensation unless something goes wrong. Appropriate reception is the awareness of where your body is in space.

For example, while walking, sensor receptors on your skin joints and muscles send signals to the brain that make you aware of your right foot being in front of you, even if your eyes are closed or if you're not looking down at your feet. Appropriate reception is sometimes used interchangeably with the teram at caynesthesia, but they're actually very different perceptions. Canesthesia is the sense of movement of our muscles, tendons,

and joints. For example, while walking, the brain picks up on the sensations of force, velocity, and the propelling of your body forward from the inner ear, which oversees balance orientation to sense movement. You're aware of the sensation of your body being in motion even if you're focused on the scenery around you and not on your body. Appropriate reception in kinnesthesia, while different work together to make us

cognizant of our own bodies in space. Combined, they can be considered the sixth sense, or respectively as the sixth and seventh senses. Appropriate reception plays a vital role in balance and orientation, enabling us to stand upright or walk, especially on uneven surfaces. It allows golfers to perfect their swings and dancers to move with the grace of a butterfly. We spoke with Dr Jack Shelley trim Blay, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of

South Alabama. He said, when it functions normally, we take it for granted. One of the most fascinating things aboutppropriate reception is when it fails. Sometimes people experience a temporary impairment of the sixth sense. To think of someone who is intoxicated with alcohol with their vestibular system impaired, They have a sense appropriate exception loss and thus may weave a bit when they walk or bump into stationary objects,

or lose their balance and fall. But a more precise example is when your arm falls asleep and as a result, it feels numb and it is difficult to move. People appropriate reception disorder or impairment may experience at times the sensation of being off balance in coordination or clumsiness, being more prone to falls, and or being unable to recognize their own strength, such as pressing down too hard with

a pencil when writing. Sometimes injuries or disorders can cause a permanent loss approprise reception, such as brain injuries, arthritis, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, alis, or leu Garreg's disease and Parkinson's disease. But there are two unusual conditions that are related to approprise reception. First, alien limb syndrome, also called alien hand syndrome. This neurological disorder can affect the hand or the leg and causes the limb to act independently or involuntarily of

the person's desires. British neurologist Oliver Sacks describes in a chapter of his book The Man who mistook his wife for a hat a patient who awoke to find what he believed to be a cadaver's leg in bed with him. Disgusted, the man pushed the leg off the bed, only to drop onto the floor after it. He then became distraught when he realized that the strange leg was attached to him. Then there's phantom limb syndrome, which is a condition that

can affect amputees. Phantom limb syndrome occurs when someone feels sensations in the limb that has been removed. For some it can be a painful experience. One man described the sensation in his phantom hand as being a constant state of tight clenching that neither pain killers nor hypnosis could ease Researchers suggested that the signals going from his muscles to his brain were not getting the feedback to stop

clenching because the eyes weren't seeing the hand. They successfully showed that by placing the man's intact arm into a mirror box, the man could visually resurrect the phantom limb and convince his brain to stop sending clenching signals. As a result, he found relief from the unsettling phantom hand sensation. In rare cases, people can lose all sense appropriate reception. In his book of Case Studies, Sachs described the case

of Christina. The twenty seven year old woman appeared to have a reaction to medication in which the sensory roots of her spinal and cranial nerves became inflamed. Afterward, she suddenly lost the ability to study herself while standing or holding objects in her hands. Within days, if not hours, she became quote floppy as a rag doll, unable to even sit up. Christina never regained her sense of self, but gradually, through rehabilitation and fierce concentration on her movements,

she was able to sit up and walk again. Another case of total loss appropriate reception was detailed in neurologist J. Cole's book Pride and a Daily Marathon. The book focuses on Ian Waterman, who, at the age of nineteen, lost all sense of his body from his neck down after a brief illness. A waterman described feeling as if he were just ahead floating on a pillow. Like Christina, he had not recovered at the time of publication, but with much therapy and her nation, he was able to sit

up and walk again. While frightening to imagine. Shelley Tremblay assures us that the total loss of appropriate reception is quite rare, and that the impairment of the sense is treatable. The first line of defense when treating propose reception issues is to determine the underlying cause and treat that Activities that focus on mobility, muscle strength, and sense of balance may also help sharpen propose reception, according to study published

in the Journal of Athletic Training. Some of these therapies include physical therapies, matasensory stimulation, balance exercises, tai chi, and yoga. The bottom line is that although our sixth sense may be hidden from us, approprise. Reception plays a critical role in giving us a sense of ownership of our bodies. We may take it for granted, but without it would be essentially disembodied. Today's episode was written by Jennifer Walker

Journey and produced by Tyler Client Firm. More on this and lots of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio. Or more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.