Touch and Pain, Smell and Taste and Integrating the Senses - Open University Course Team

This block is split into three sections; Touch and Pain, Smell and Taste and Integrating the Senses.Touch and PainThis section describes the somatic sensory system. This includes at least four senses: touch, pain, temperature and proprioception (the sense of position and movement). It looks at both the body's own mechanism of pain control and the use of drugs for pain relief.Smell and TasteThese two senses are closely interlinked, and both involve the interaction of molecules, rather than energy as is the case with the other senses. For that reason they are often referred to as the chemical senses. Topics covered in this section include the molecular characteristics of substances that we smell or taste; the coding of smell and taste; the nature of the receptors involved; the mechanism of transduction; and the role of human pheromones in sexual attraction.Integrating the SensesThis section brings the various senses together to examine how they interrelate, and how signals affecting one sense can conflict with those stimulating another sense. This can sometimes be simply uncomfortable (e.g. a feeling of nausea) or potentially dangerous (e.g. if it happens to aircraft pilots). The block looks at how perception can be manipulated in virtual reality and hypnosis.