How Many Senses Do Humans Have?

senses, perception — Human senses extend beyond our everyday understanding of the five senses we know.

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Humans perceive, react and think with a vast collection of neurons networked to the external world, and no study has ever shown that we receive or process information with any other capacities than our nervous systems. (Sorry, psychics: extra-sensory perception is still an unsubstantiated myth.) But what we do perceive extends far beyond our everyday understanding of the five human senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch.

For one, our sense of touch is actually a variety of distinct sensations caused by different special-purpose neurons. Light touch, pressure, erotic sensation, vibration and various sensations of temperature and pain all result from differently-tuned sensory cells.