The Hidden Senses Your Brain Uses to Make Every Decision (S2E21)

You were taught you have five senses. You don't. Neuroscience now recognizes at least twelve distinct sensory systems, and the ones Aristotle missed are the ones quietly running your emotional life, your decisions, and your sense of who you are.In this conversation, Phil Dixon and Cole Bastian take apart the five-sense model and rebuild it with what the research actually shows. You'll learn why "touch" isn't one sense, why your gut feelings are sensory data, and why interoception, the sense of your own internal state, is the foundation of emotional intelligence and good judgment.Covered in this episode:The history of the five-sense model from Aristotle's De Anima to modern neuroscienceCharles Bell and Charles Sherrington on the discovery of proprioceptionThe vestibular system, thermoception, and nociception explainedWhy interoception is the neurological foundation of emotion, drawing on Lisa Feldman Barrett's constructed emotion theoryAntonio Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis and what it means for decision-makingC tactile afferents, the receptors tuned specifically to caring touchWilder Penfield's cortical homunculus and what your brain's body map really looks likeChronoception, magnetoreception, and the edges of human sensingHow interoceptive awareness connects to the Personal Threat Profile (PTP)Practical ways to train interoception for better self-regulation and leadershipFollow @mybrainwisecoach across all platforms and leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen. It helps the BrainWise community grow.00:00 The Sense You Were Never Taught00:02 Aristotle and the Five-Sense Model00:03 Charles Bell Discovers Proprioception00:06 The Vestibular System and Balance00:08 Thermoception and Temperature Sensing00:09 Nociception Is Not Just Touch00:11 Interoception and the Body's Internal State00:13 Lisa Feldman Barrett on Constructed Emotion00:14 Connecting Interoception to the PTP00:15 Chronoception and the Sense of Time00:17 Magnetoreception and Speculative Senses00:18 Why Touch Is Not One Sense00:19 C Tactile Afferents and Caring Touch00:20 The Cortical Homunculus Body Map00:22 Damasio's Somatic Marker Hypothesis00:25 How to Train Interoceptive Awareness00:26 Closing the BrainWise Field Guide