The missing sense modality: the immune system.
The five senses were handed down by Aristotle. I argue that it has only taken two millennia to recognize that the immune system has been the hidden sensory modality. The immune system completes the range of operation allowing detection of meaningful entities at all distances, from very near to very far. It also withstands the often implicit criteria for being a sense modality. Finally, cross-modal interactions between the immune system and vision and other sense modalities should be possible, opening up new research directions.
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. bedford@u.arizona.edu
Felice L
FL
Bedford
D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology