Traditional senses?
Sight
Sight or vision is the ability of the brain and eye to detect electromagnetic waves within the visible range of light, and interpret the image as “sight.” There are 2 receptors: One for the perception of color (frequency of light-photons) and the other for brightness (amplitude/number of photons of light). Depth perception is a form of sensory input.
Hearing
Hearing or audition is the sense of sound perception. This is a mechanical sense because the sound vibrations are mechanically conducted from the eardrum through a series of tiny bones to hair-like fibers in the inner ear which detect sounds within a range of about 20 to 20,000 hertz. Sound can also be detected as vibrations conducted through the body by tactition, especially the lower frequencies.
Taste
Taste or gustation is one of the two main “chemical” senses. There are 4+ types of tastes that the receptor “buds” on the tongue can detect, whereby each conveys the information to a slightly different region of the brain. Flavor includes both the smell and taste of a food.
The 4 best-known receptors detect sweet, salt, sour, and bitter. A 5th one, called umami, was recently discovered. It detects the amino acid glutamate, a flavor found in artificial flavorings such as MSG.
