Sixth Sense In Human Brain Mapped By Scientists - Polidicks

[QUOTE]We may just have a sixth sense. No, it's not the ability to see dead people, but it does relate to the ability to work with numbers. Scientists have discovered that numerosity is associated with the part of the brain that is organized topographically, putting it on the same level as the other five primary sense of sight, hearing, touch smell and taste. Scientists have suspected before that numerosity might be characterized by a topographical map. Until now, though, they haven't been able to find where it exists in the brain. Now scientists have sussed out the signals that reveal that the numerosity map is, in fact, real. Numerosity is distinct from symbolic numbers. While we use symbolic numbers to represent numerosity and other aspects of magnitude, it's still only a representation. Instead, numerosity is derived from visual processing of image features. In order to better understand what controls the brain's processing of numerosity, the researchers conducted a study on eight adults. They asked the participants to look at patterns of dots that varied in number over time, all the while analyzing the neural response properties in a numerosity-linked part of the brain used high-field fMRI. This allowed the scientists to scan the subjects for far fewer hours per sitting than with less powerful scanning technology. The researchers then incorporated the data into a model, which aimed to measure neural response as directly and quantitatively as possible. This allowed them to model the human fMRI response properties that they observed. In the end, they saw a topographical layout of numerosity in the human brain. The small quantities of dots that the participants observed were encoded by neurons in one part of the brain, and the larger quantities, in another. "We are very excited that association cortex can produce emergent topographic structures," said Benjamin Harvey, one o the researchers, [URL="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/aaft-fmt083013.php"]in a news release.[/URL] "We believe this will lead to a much more complete understanding of humans' unique numerical and mathematical skills." The findings are published in the journal [I][URL="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6150/1123"]Science.[/URL][/I][/QUOTE] [URL]http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/9333/20130907/sixth-sense-human-brain-mapped-scientists.htm[/URL]

Except sense of pain, temperature, balance are also considered senses.

I HATE the misconception that we've got five senses. As JgcxCub said pain, temperature, and balance are their own senses, as well as hunger, itchiness, and the non-visual perception of the position of your body parts. It's unclear how many we have, but it's a hell of a lot more than five.

Couldn't be more relevant. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUn7zy8Ya20[/media]

From what I hear, thinking, or the mind, is the sixth sense. Also from what I hear, we have more that six senses anyway.

The 5 senses were thought up by Aristotle. I really don't know why we even keep mentioning the "5 senses" because there's tons more like time, limb position and stuff JgcxCub mentioned. Maybe he just never thought of the rest, but the 5 Aristotle mentioned are probably the most basic.

[QUOTE=JgcxCub;42116185]Except sense of pain, temperature, balance are also considered senses.[/QUOTE] Hunger, proprioception, we even have very slight magnetoception, apparently

[QUOTE=TheTalon;42116275]Hunger, proprioception, we even have very slight magnetoception[/QUOTE] I don't have any magnetoception, but I've never stood next to a colossal magnet, so I can't say if it's just a large-scale sense... I thought the only way you could get that was with implants, though.

[QUOTE=ElectricSquid;42116291]I don't have any magnetoception, but I've never stood next to a colossal magnet, so I can't say if it's just a large-scale sense... I thought the only way you could get that was with implants, though.[/QUOTE] It's just something researches found out about humans. Probably nothing anyone can feel, certainly not like a bird

[QUOTE=ElectricSquid;42116291]I don't have any magnetoception, but I've never stood next to a colossal magnet, so I can't say if it's just a large-scale sense... I thought the only way you could get that was with implants, though.[/QUOTE] It's not a very useful one, but electromagnetic fields have been found to fuck with people and make them sick along with other amazing maladies. Although, I think that's more due to them messing with the mechanics of the brain than it is an actual perception or sense.

Is racism a sense technically? Since it's an instinctive fear of difference.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;42116322]Is racism a sense technically? Since it's an instinctive fear of difference.[/QUOTE] That's psychological and it's entirely dependent on your current senses to even exist, you can't be racist if you don't know that someone is different (can't see). So no, it's probably not a sense as senses are merely inputs; they don't illicit a reaction or stimuli until the signal that's being perceived has been processed by the brain and an output, like hatred or fear, is formed.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;42116322]Is racism a sense technically? Since it's an instinctive fear of difference.[/QUOTE] Xenophobia is innate, but I wouldn't classify it as a sense.

[QUOTE=Tark;42116316]It's not a very useful one, but electromagnetic fields have been found to fuck with people and make them sick along with other amazing maladies. Although, I think that's more due to them messing with the mechanics of the brain than it is an actual perception or sense.[/QUOTE] Wait, magnetic fields actually fuck with people? I'd heard of that, but mostly only from people who had dubious medical knowledge (the terms "hippy" and "new-age" are not appropriate descriptors, but are the closest things I can think of) and so I sort of doubted that. I thought it was more of EM radiation that fucked with people than it was EM fields.

[QUOTE=Tark;42116316]It's not a very useful one, but electromagnetic fields have been found to fuck with people and make them sick along with other amazing maladies. Although, I think that's more due to them messing with the mechanics of the brain than it is an actual perception or sense.[/QUOTE] The link between EMF and health problems is dubious at best and outright false at worst. There's ongoing research, but very little literature out right now to make that claim.

I don't get this. so now counting is a sense? i thought that was just cognitive thought.

[QUOTE=ElectricSquid;42116387]Wait, magnetic fields actually fuck with people? I'd heard of that, but mostly only from people who had dubious medical knowledge (the terms "hippy" and "new-age" are not appropriate descriptors, but are the closest things I can think of) and so I sort of doubted that. I thought it was more of EM radiation that fucked with people than it was EM fields.[/QUOTE] I work with an electromagnet every day and I can't feel shit

[QUOTE=Blazyd;42116230]The 5 senses were thought up by Aristotle. I really don't know why we even keep mentioning the "5 senses" because there's tons more like time, limb position and stuff JgcxCub mentioned. Maybe he just never thought of the rest, but the 5 Aristotle mentioned are probably the most basic.[/QUOTE] The five senses are pretty much broad terms that cover all possible senses we can have. Sense of pain and balance can easily be put under touch and hearing, respectively.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;42116539]The five senses are pretty much broad terms that cover all possible senses we can have. Sense of pain and balance can easily be put under touch and hearing, respectively.[/QUOTE] Well I agree about the sense of pain, but equilibrioception is only related to hearing by virtue of being sensed by a different part of the same organ. Your sense of balance is nothing like your sense of hearing, in terms of how you perceive it.

I be they find the way we recognize faces is one too

[QUOTE=Zah;42116482]I don't get this. so now counting is a sense? i thought that was just cognitive thought.[/QUOTE] It's not really counting I think, more a 'perception' of the numbers. And just because it is in cognitive thoughts doesn't mean it isn't a sense. Thinking 'It's cold' is more a sense than a thought, because the temperature is picked up on. In homeostasis, receptors would detect a change in temperature and send a signal to the hypothalamus (control centre situated in the brain), which in turn would process this and relay it back to the effectors. If it wasn't a sense, we wouldn't be able to regulate our body temperature. Therefore, without numerosity we probably wouldn't be able to understand or identify numerical data. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerosity_adaptation_effect"]Also, this probably puts into perspective what it's about[/URL]

[QUOTE=AtomicSans;42116198]I HATE the misconception that we've got five senses. As JgcxCub said pain, temperature, and balance are their own senses, as well as hunger, itchiness, and the non-visual perception of the position of your body parts. It's unclear how many we have, but it's a hell of a lot more than five.[/QUOTE] I think that's partially due to the way we describe the action of sensing these events. You [b]feel[/b] touch, hunger, balance, temperature, etc. You [b]hear[/b] sounds, your own thoughts, etc. The same word is used to describe the occurrence of feeling various stimuli.

[QUOTE=frozensoda;42117003]I be they find the way we recognize faces is one too[/QUOTE] I don't understand why you are rated dumb. The way we perceive faces has been identified and mapped to an extent. Maybe not a sense per say, but there is a disorder called Prosopagnosia. It is a result of injury to the inferior occipito-temporal lobe. Prosopagnosia is basically face blindness. You can't see or recongise faces. Why? Because facial recognition is such a big part of what we've evolved to be. Short and old video. [3:31] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCrxomPbtY[/media] Longer and much better video. [22:10] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_VDRYcRRYI[/media]

[QUOTE=JgcxCub;42116185]Except sense of pain, temperature, balance are also considered senses.[/QUOTE] I thought the senses of pain and temperature are just variations of the sense of touch

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;42117836]I thought the senses of pain and temperature are just variations of the sense of touch[/QUOTE] You can feel hot/cold when you're sick, or when hovering your hand above a hot plate or a block of ice. The touch sense is more related to pressure.

[QUOTE=JgcxCub;42116185]Except sense of pain, temperature, balance are also considered senses.[/QUOTE] I thought pain and temperature went with "touch", though not literally only when we touch something... they are part of the sensations on our skin right? Then again, I don't particularly know if the people with the disease that makes them feel no pain can feel temperature, if they can, I suppose it's a different sense from touch. Balance I can agree with being a separate sense though

[QUOTE=Simski;42117995]I thought pain and temperature went with "touch", though not literally only when we touch something... they are part of the sensations on our skin right? Then again, I don't particularly know if the people with the disease that makes them feel no pain can feel temperature, if they can, I suppose it's a different sense from touch. Balance I can agree with being a separate sense though[/QUOTE] When you bathe in sunrays, you feel the heat, but you are not touching the sun.

[QUOTE=Nikita;42118047]When you bathe in sunrays, you feel the heat, but you are not touching the sun.[/QUOTE] Yes, but the sunrays are touching your skin. Like the wind, rain, or fog. It interacts with the sense of touch in your skin.

[QUOTE=Nikita;42118047]When you bathe in sunrays, you feel the heat, but you are not touching the sun.[/QUOTE] Right but you're feeling the heat given off by photons imparting their energy on your skin.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;42116275]Hunger, proprioception, we even have very slight magnetoception, apparently[/QUOTE] From reading one of Richard Dawkins' books a while ago I think he mentioned that some obscure tribe somewhere was found to have a sense of north because they had a sense of the Earth's magnetic field. I think birds have it as swell to help them navigate, biomagnetite in the brain iirc. Might be bollocks though.