← All episodes Episode 57 · Senses & Perception

The Sixth Sense You Use Every Second

Proprioception

Close your eyes and you still know exactly where your hand is. That is proprioception, a constant internal body map, and your brain can stretch it to include tools you use well.

The Science

  • Penfield and Boldrey (1937), Brain: mapping the cortex revealed a body shaped homunculus in the sensory strip, with hands and face taking up outsized space.
  • Proske and Gandevia (2012), Physiological Reviews: muscle and joint receptors feed a continuous sense of limb position and movement, the proprioceptive senses.
  • Iriki, Tanaka and Iwamura (1996), NeuroReport: after monkeys learned to use a rake, parietal neurons coded the tool as an extension of the hand, evidence the body map can absorb tools.
  • Net effect: skilled tools, a racket, a controller, a car, can feel like part of you because the brain literally incorporates them into the map.

The Protocol

  • Balance drill: stand on one leg while brushing your teeth to recalibrate the body map and sharpen focus.
  • Start eyes open, then try eyes closed once you are steady, switching legs halfway.
  • Pick one skill, a sport, instrument, or game, and practice it daily so the tool gets absorbed.
  • Notice the signal, name the mechanism, and change one input before autopilot takes over.

One-page summary

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The Sixth Sense You Use Every Second infographic, one-page summary Download full-size PNG ↓

The science beat (5-sec loop)

Sources

  • Penfield, W., and Boldrey, E. (1937). Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation. Brain, 60(4): 389-443.
  • Proske, U., and Gandevia, S. C. (2012). The proprioceptive senses: their roles in signaling body shape, body position and movement, and muscle force. Physiological Reviews, 92(4): 1651-1697.
  • Iriki, A., Tanaka, M., and Iwamura, Y. (1996). Coding of modified body schema during tool use by macaque postcentral neurones. NeuroReport, 7(14): 2325-2330.

Educational content only. Not medical advice.

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