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The Special Senses


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Historically, it was thought that we had just five senses: smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch. Today we recognize many more. Some specialists suggest that there are at least 20, or perhaps as many as 40, different senses. Most of these senses are part of what was originally classified as "touch." These "general senses" were discussed in chapter 14. The sense of balance is now recognized as a "special sense," making a total of five special senses: smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance. Special senses are defined as those senses with highly localized receptors that provide specific information about the environment. This chapter describes olfaction (p. 512), taste (p. 515), the visual system (p. 518), and hearing and balance (p. 539). We conclude the chapter with a look at the effects of aging on the special senses (p. 554).











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