Module 5: Regulation and Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing
Our brains interpret information from internal and external sources. This is called sensory processing. There are five external senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing, and vision) that we use to perceive our environment and three internal senses (vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive) that monitor the body’s internal state. Here are some brief definitions of the lesser known three internal senses:
- Vestibular: The vestibular sense recognizes the position and movement of our head in space. Receptors within our ear canal give the awareness of spinning, accelerating, tilting, or being upside down
- Proprioceptive: Receptors in muscles and joints give the brain feedback about where our body parts are in space
- Introceptive: This sense recognizes internal signals such as hot, cold, hungry, thirsty, and the urge to go to the bathroom.
Each of these senses interact with each other to provide information to our brains to help us navigate and manage the world and our lives.