The Extraordinary World of Blind Baseball: Unleashing the Power of Sound and Determination

Unleashing the Power of Sound:

In blind baseball, the absence of sight is compensated by an intensified reliance on sound. Imagine a game where the crack of a bat and the rhythm of footwork serve as the primary cues. Each player listens intently, using their exceptional auditory abilities to locate the ball, gauge its trajectory, and make split-second decisions. The way these athletes fine-tune their hearing and process sound is nothing short of remarkable.

Mastering the Art of Communication:

Teamwork is the lifeblood of blind baseball. Players communicate seamlessly with one another, using verbal cues and hand signals to coordinate their movements. Trust and collaboration are paramount as they navigate the field, pass information, and strategize their plays. The remarkable level of cohesion and unity displayed by these teams is awe-inspiring.

Adapting the Game:

Blind baseball introduces modifications to ensure fairness and accessibility. The pitcher, for instance, delivers the ball underhand, giving the batter a better chance to connect. The bases emit beeping sounds, guiding runners as they navigate the field. These adaptations, carefully designed to level the playing field, open up the game to individuals with visual impairments and enable them to experience the thrill of baseball.

Embracing Perseverance:

Blind baseball exemplifies the indomitable spirit of its players. Each individual has faced their unique set of challenges, but they refuse to let their limitations define them. Through countless hours of practice, determination, and a passion for the game, these athletes defy the odds and inspire others to pursue their dreams relentlessly.

Sense Memory and Celebrities

The Power of Scent:

One of the most powerful triggers of sense memory is scent. Celebrities, just like anyone else, can be deeply influenced by certain smells associated with significant moments in their lives. The fragrance of a particular perfume worn during a special event, the aroma of a childhood home, or the smell of a specific dish prepared by a loved one can all elicit intense memories and emotions for famous individuals. For example, a renowned actor may encounter a perfume worn by an old flame, instantly transporting them back to a passionate moment shared together. This sense memory can be a source of inspiration for their craft, helping them tap into the emotions and nuances required for a particular role.

Musical Nostalgia:

Music has a remarkable ability to connect with our sense memory. Celebrities often have songs or melodies that hold deep personal meaning for them, reminding them of pivotal moments or significant relationships in their lives. Just like the rest of us, they might have a favorite song that instantly transports them to a specific time and place, evoking a flood of memories and emotions.

Visual Triggers:

Visual stimuli also play a crucial role in sense memory. Celebrities, with their vast exposure to different settings, events, and people, encounter visual triggers that can transport them back in time. It could be a photograph, a familiar location, or an item of clothing that sparks a cascade of memories and associations.

Harnessing Sense Memory in Creativity:

Sense memory can be a powerful tool for celebrities in their creative pursuits. Drawing from their own personal experiences and the associated sensory cues, they can tap into a wellspring of emotions and authenticity. Whether it's an actor drawing on past feelings of joy or heartache, a musician channeling nostalgia through melodies, or a writer evoking vivid imagery through sensory descriptions, sense memory adds depth and richness to their artistry.

Multisensory Perception

The Magic of Multisensory Perception:

Our brains have a remarkable ability to integrate information from different senses, creating a rich and nuanced perception of our environment. Imagine sipping a cup of hot cocoa on a chilly winter evening. As you hold the warm mug in your hands, the aroma of the cocoa tickles your nose, enhancing the taste experience. The sound of crackling fire in the background adds a cozy ambiance, and the gentle touch of a soft blanket completes the multisensory symphony, immersing you in a comforting moment of bliss.

Sensory Collaboration and Cross-Modal Effects:

Multisensory perception goes beyond mere sensory inputs; it involves the collaboration and cross-talk between different senses. When senses interact, they can influence one another, leading to surprising effects. For example, studies have shown that visual stimuli can influence our perception of taste. The color of a beverage can alter our perception of its flavor, highlighting the intricate connection between our visual and gustatory systems.

Applications and Impact:

The understanding of multisensory perception has practical implications in various fields. In product design, incorporating multiple sensory cues can enhance user experiences and create more engaging interactions. In education, leveraging multisensory approaches can optimize learning and information retention. Moreover, multisensory perception plays a vital role in virtual reality, allowing us to immerse ourselves in alternate worlds where our senses merge seamlessly.

Embracing the Multisensory Journey:

As we explore the realm of multisensory perception, we gain a deeper appreciation for the intricate interplay of our senses. Whether it's savoring a delicious meal, enjoying a concert, or admiring a breathtaking sunset, our multisensory experiences shape our perception and enrich our lives. So, let's embark on this extraordinary journey, embracing the marvels of multisensory perception and opening our senses to the beauty that surrounds us.

The Love Scent: How Pheromones Affect Attraction

    I recently viewed a TedTalk on the sense of smell from Vedat Ozan (will be linked below) I decided to dive deeper into how our sense of smell might affect an emotional attachment or attraction to others. The olfactory system or put more simply our sense of smell is an extraordinary thing. Vedat open discusses briefly how many years ago the only way people were attracted to mates was based on the body odor of their partners. He goes on to explain that this starts usually at puberty, stating, "Puberty when the body starts to produce specific odors, which are simply biological mating signals" . He also discusses how newborns and infants are comforted by the scent of their mothers or their caregivers. So how and why do our body odors determine our attraction? 

    Let's start with Pheromones, pheromones to put simply are chemicals that organisms produce unconsciously to cue and transmit information within their species. These pheromones are picked up by the nose and can illicit behavioral or physiological responses from the individual smelling the scent. Pheromones are released for a variety of reasons, including: territorial, aggression, alarm/fear, Primal, and sex/mating.

 The term love at first sight doesn't necessarily have to do with the attractiveness of the person, but definitely aids in it, its more so the scent of the person that attracts you to them, invoking that love at first sight feeling. The most common pheromone that aids in attraction is called Androsterone. both men and women produce Androsterone, however this pheromone makes men more attractive to women. Women have an additional sex pheromone called Copulin that correlates to her menstrual cycle. 

    The attractiveness of pheromones varies from person to person, meaning not all people are attracted to the same scent or pheromone. While there is no real definitive reason as to why some scents/pheromones are more attractive than others, scientists have studied insects, mostly moths, as well as rats to try and determine why exactly one scent is favored over another. When studying animals and insects it was found that pheromones directly correspond to reproductive behaviors. In Stockholm two neuroscientists investigated the brains activity when presented with two pheromones, comparing how the brain reacted when males and females scented the two pheromones. The findings showed that males and females hypothalamus' both lighted when in the scenting the opposite sexes pheromones. While this data does not definitively prove that pheromones aid in reproduction in humans, it does highlight that pheromones do have a sway in how attractive we find a partner. 

Tasting what I see

When I read this section in the book it shocked my mind to understand that I taste what I see when I am eating. I never really thought deep into how the taste of my foods would be influenced just from how it appears to my eyes. The book states that seeing food can induce activity in the hypothalamus, a region known to control appetite and eating-related behaviors. It is important to see what we are eating because then this will allow us to determine if our food is properly cooked, if it is fresh, should we purchase this food, etc. 

When I first look at my food, my brain is already telling me how this food will taste. Being able to see it will influence my perception of the particular food. Yes, I can still smell, touch, hear, expect, and understand the foods I am eating but being able to see it will allow me to determine if I will accept or reject the dish. When I see foods with different colors such as green, I think these foods will taste fresh. When I see yellow, I think the food will have some acidity. Seeing red, I think the food will be sweet. Being able to see what I am about to taste has a very strong impact on how I will enjoy or not enjoy my foods. 

The effectiveness of Echolocation.

 Humans that use echolocation would emit sounds like mouth clicks, cane taps, finger snaps, footsteps and so on. This reflected sound would help the individual identify their surroundings and give them a 3-D mental image of the objects around them, they would then know how to move accordingly. The term for this would be Flash Sonar, the reflected sound/echoes would help an individual perceive three characteristics of an object. The three characteristics is: the height and width of the object, the depth of the object and location.

There is two types of sonar processing which is active and passive, passive sonar processing is like  hearing vague sounds of an object from the environment or yourself but you're not able to identify it so you will be able to sense the presence of an object but not know much details of the object. Most humans use passive sonar processing but active sonar processing is when the individual produce sound to perceive the specific details of an item, especially at farther distances. The brain would then have to differentiate the characteristics of the sound/echo that bounced of the object.

Sense of smell

     Karl Wuensech was tested by his doctor and learned that he had become anosmic. What does that mean? Simply, he lost his sense of smell. This section of the book really sparked my interest because I have a family member who has also lost their sense of smell. I never really took much thought into it until I read this book from another person's perspective. 

    Luckily, Wuensech's anosmia can get treated for some periods of time and he can lose and regain his smell over and over again. On the other hand, my family member cannot. This occurred to my family member based on some sinus issues similar to Wuensech. In the book, Wuensech explains that he misses the smell of people. My family member also misses that smell, as well as being able to smell and eat their food. Reading this section really made me think about the sense of smell. At one point in my life, my sense of smell was decreased but I have not been tested for anosmic because, for me, it was just some nasal blockage and congestion. 

Auditory Approach System and Functions.

 Auditory Approach System 

        

    is the sensory system for the sense of hearing this encapsulates the sensory organs and sensory system. The ear has three main parts outer, middle, and inner ear. 

   The outer ear (External Ear) consists of the auricle and the external auditory meatus, At the top, the auricle is surrounded by a lid-like structure. the bottom or inferior portion of the auricle has the ear lobe. The auricle of the ear is composed of elastic cartilage which gives it its unique flexibility. The auricle's main function is to gather data from the outside world and funnel it to the external auditory meatus. 

   The middle ear is separated from the external ear by the tympanic membrane (Ear Drum). As the sound gets funneled to the middle ear the eardrum vibrates and transfers the waves to the tiny bones called ossicles that lie in the tympanic cavity of the middle ear. There are three ossicles, and their names are Malleus (the hammer), The incus (anvil), and the stapes (stirrup.)The middle ear functions by converting energy from sound pressure waves to a force upon the liquid (Perilymph) of the oval window of the inner ear. The oval window is smaller than the tympanic membrane, so the force/pressure increases, therefore, being able to move the liquid within the inner ear. The middle ear also contains the Eustachian tube which connects the tympanic and nasal cavities. This function is to allow the middle air pressure to equalize between the ear and the throat.

    Lastly, the Inner Ear (Internal Ear)- detects sensory information for sound and balance. This part of the ear is responsible for balance/equilibrium and sound interpretation. The inner ear hosts the vestibule, semicircular canals, and the cochlea. The cochlea’s function is to convert sound pressure into electrochemical impulses to the brain by the auditory nerve (Vestibulocochlear Nerve-Cranial nerve XIII.)With all the anatomy being stated Auditory Approach system is how we hear and process things within the environment. When we hear future sounds it’s a warning of what may happen next. 

    Auditory warnings are for example a blind baseball player can hit the ball without seeing the ball because the warning is preconceived after the pitcher yells out audible cues. The baseball player is literally listening to the ball or connecting with the ball. This is relevant to Auditory approach warnings as well because the batter is conditioned to hearing the sounds set in place to hit the ball so the auditory system has already set in place auditory warnings. 

Sommeliers

A profession that I never knew existed before this class was being a sommelier. A sommelier is an individual who is extremely knowledgeable and intelligent when it comes to wine. They are trained to recognize different aspects of wines such as their regions where they were made and grapes used, plus can very nicely describe the aspects and tastes of the wine verbally. Because of their expertise, sommeliers are hired to work in different restaurants and food services to provide their skills. The brains of sommelier’s are really interesting to analyze. “See What I’m Saying” goes into great detail about the brains of the sommeliers. When a sommelier tastes  wine, one area that is activated is where smell and taste inputs come together. This allows the sommelier to have more detailed perceptions of flavors of the wine. Next, there is enhanced left hemisphere activity. The left hemisphere is associated with analytical behavior which would help the sommelier analyze the wines. Last, the brain areas for more advanced cognitive functions like decision making, memory and language are activated. This also helps the sommelier make decisions about what kind of wine it is, remember the elements of it, and use language to describe it.

Through doing research about sommelier’s, I found that there is the Sommelier Society of America. The Sommelier Society of America is located in New York. This organization provides many resources such as classes, certificate programs, and different workshops. Becoming a sommelier is an extremely difficult task, and it is really awesome to see different classes for people to enhance their wine recognizing abilities. One quality of sommelier’s that I mentioned earlier is that they can describe what they are tasting and smelling in a very effective way. Personally, I find that this knowledge is one of the most admirable qualities of sommeliers, and I would love to see them guess different wines in person.

Sources

https://sommeliersocietyofamerica.org/

See What I’m Saying novel

Sommeliers

 A sommelier is what? A sommelier is a wine expert who is employed by restaurants, country clubs, and other establishments to taste-test wines before they are given to patrons. It is crucial to understand that becoming a sommelier is a difficult process. A person who wants to work as a sommelier must develop their palate and knowledge of wine's past. A sommelier must also pass a test that is broken up into three sections in order to get certified. It becomes clear how uncommon it is to become a sommelier after reading The Extraordinary Powers See of our Five Senses What I'm Saying by the author.

It was interesting to realize how much time and effort go into their training when reading the part about how to become a sommelier. Given the wide variety of wines produced worldwide, it is very challenging to taste a wine and determine exactly what it is and where it was produced. I saw a video on the training and requirements to become a master sommelier that followed Vincent as he prepared for his exam before I even started reading the book. Many people must retake the exam several times before passing, as was the case with Vincent, the book revealed. It is very challenging to work so hard and still fail. The film tracing Vincent's preparation for the master sommelier test may be seen here.

Here is a video of the steps to become a sommelier:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sommelier+training&&view=detail&mid=462291ABCABCFBD6F941462291ABCABCFBD6F941&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dsommelier%2Btraining%26FORM%3DHDRSC4 

Tasting What You See

             Taste, similar to our other four senses learned about in this class, is very complex and can be influenced by many different things. One thing that influences taste that I find the most interesting is our sight. How a food looks has a great impact on its flavor and how flavorful you think the food is. Neurophysiological research has shown that the groups of cells that are activated with respect to taste also activate when you look at food or drinks.

            “See What I’m Saying” goes through an example of how you truly taste what you see. If you were given juices in their natural state with their natural colors, it would be fairly simple for you to determine the flavor of each juice. On the other hand, if the juices were all clear, you would have a significantly more difficult time determining which drink was which. Additionally, if a certain drink with a known color, such as red cranberry juice, was somehow made purple, this would also negatively affect your ability to correctly determine the flavor of the juice. Scientific American gives another example experiment on how you can test that you really taste what you see. The directions instructed you to have 3 cups of apple juice but dye each of the cups a different color with food coloring. Find participants and ask them to take a sip of each of the drinks and take a sip of water in between drinking each of the drinks. Then, have the participants tell you which of the three drinks was their favorite. Scientific American stated that typically, a person will rate one of the juices as their favorite even though all of the juices are the same which means that color had a big impact on this decision. 

I definitely do agree that we taste what we see. When I read this portion of the chapter, it reminded me of an activity I participated in during Girl Scouts when I was in elementary school. The troop leaders had blindfolded us, put a certain Kool-Aid flavor on a Q-tip, touched the Q-tip to our tongues and had us try to determine what flavor of Kool-Aid we were tasting. It was extremely hard for all of us to determine the flavor since we could not see the color. However, once we were able to see the color of the drink, there seemed to be no difficulty determining the flavor.

Sources

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tricky-taste-test-do-you-taste-with-your-eyes/

See What I’m Saying novel

Proxy Touch

     One very interesting concept in our perceptual world is something called proxy touch. As humans, we have the abilities to touch things and understand properties about them without even physically touching them ourselves. Proxy touch is when you use a tool, probe, or some kind of object to touch another object, which then allows you to gain knowledge about different aspects of these objects. For example if you use a probe to touch another object, what happens at the end of the probe is transmitted through the probe to the skin. Once this occurs, you now can be aware of different properties of the object that you touched.

    I believe that this is a very effective aspect of our perceptual abilities. It makes us able to be more aware of our surroundings and possibly protect ourselves from physically touching something ourselves that could be dangerous. Some examples of proxy touch that were mentioned in chapter 7 of “See What I’m Saying”  include using a knife to butter toast, and writing on a piece of paper with a pencil. When you butter toast, you do not directly touch the butter with your fingers. You use a knife to touch the butter and the knife lets you know how smooth or hard the butter is which lets you determine how much force is needed to get your serving of butter. Similarly with the paper and pencil, you don’t physically touch the paper with your hands. You can use the pencil to determine the texture of the paper which will furthermore determine how you write.

An interesting use of proxy touch was explained by the University of Alberta. They used a proxy haptic concept. Going into detail, they were trying to let individuals have a sense of touch to things that are virtual. Medical students stood in front of a mannequin that was laying down to imitate a patient. A virtual reality system was used and if the physical mannequin was in a similar position to the virtual person image, students felt as if they were really touching the mannequin. I do believe that proxy touch is very real. I realized that I use it all the time in my own life. One example is stirring soup. You can feel using the spoon how thick a soup is, and therefore how much effort you need to stir the soup.

Sources

https://spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca/ahci/projects/medical-projects/proxy-haptic-for-medical-training/ 

See What I’m Saying novel

Anosmia

A complete absence of smell is a symptom of anosmia. While some people are born with anosmia, others may gradually lose their sense of smell. Anosmia is thought to affect between 3 and 20 percent of persons. Anosmia, often known as scent blindness, can be either temporary or permanent. Temporary anosmia can result from common illnesses that irritate the nose's mucous membranes, like allergies or a cold. Brain tumors and head injuries are two more severe disorders that might result in lifelong loss of smell. Anosmia can occasionally develop with aging. Even though anosmia is typically not dangerous, it can significantly lower a person's quality of life. Anosmia patients may not be able to properly taste their meal and may become bored with it. Malnutrition or weight loss may result from this. Because anosmia may make it difficult to enjoy pleasant smells or tastes, it can also result in despair.

The obstruction in your nasal canal can be removed in order to address loss of smell brought on by nasal obstruction. This removal can entail having the nasal septum straightened, the polyps in the nose removed, or the sinuses cleaned out. The risk of irreversible loss of smell is higher in older adults. Congenital anosmia sufferers do not currently have access to any treatments. People who have lost some of their sense of smell can enhance their enjoyment of meals by adding powerful flavoring ingredients.

In "See What I'm Saying", anosmia diagnosis had a negative impact on Karl Wuensch's life. Due to significant sinus polyps and severely swollen turbinate, Wuensch was diagnosed with anosmia. About two million Americans still have anosmia, a disorder that is incredibly challenging to treat. It damaged his interactions with those around him and made it difficult for him to taste meals. Out of all scents, he claimed he missed the fragrance of people the most because it had an impact on his close and casual relationships. He developed a liking for spicy foods, which helped him learn to enjoy them more. Wuensch has been in remission for almost three years thanks to the fact that anosmia usually improves after multiple treatments.

Synethesia

 A neurological condition known as synesthesia causes automatic, involuntary sensations in a second sensory or cognitive channel in response to stimulation of a first sensory or cognitive pathway (for example, hearing) (such as vision). Simply explained, simultaneous activation of two unrelated senses occurs when one sense is active. For instance, this could happen when you hear music and experience the swirls or color patterns that go with it. Due of the ease with which connections between concepts can be made, synesthesia can improve cognitive skills like creativity and memory. Associative synesthesia, in which the senses are linked and associated in the mind, or projective synesthesia, in which the images and colors are projected into reality.

There could be up to 80 subtypes of synesthesia because it can involve any combination of senses. Though not all varieties of synesthesia have been examined or documented, the root reason is still unknown. Some synesthetes link shapes to flavors, hear sounds in response to smells, and perceive texture in response to sight. The multimodal mental imagery connected to synesthesia is frequently utilized by literature, film, and television (which explains the popularity of cooking and baking shows).

I found the subject of synesthesia to be very fascinating while reading Lawrence Rosenblum's book "See What I'm Saying." Despite not being a synesthete myself, I have always associated colors with numbers and days of the week. Although I don't often use these colors and it is more of an afterthought for me, persons with synesthesia encounter this kind of thing frequently. Richard E. Cytowic discusses the 1 in 90 people who experience synesthesia with graphemes—a condition in which they perceive written parts as saturated in color—in the video that is attached. The form that involves synesthesia with phonemes is the most intriguing. A synesthete may occasionally taste a particular flavor when they hear a word.

Here below shows an image of how one perceives the months via synesthesia:

Facial Vision

 Something that caught my eye while reading was the idea of facial vision. I never realized how this powerful this can be. I definitely take my sight for granted and I truly don't even have the best eyesight. I couldn't imagine a day without it though. Facial vision is a technique that has been adapted to blind people so they can recognize the people and things around them. This way they can use sound waves to feel things out and can use their sense of touch to feel around. One example of this was the air. The air or breeze that hits a blind person’s face can paint a bigger picture than to someone who is not blind. This is because they can feel more about what is going on instead of just sitting in a breeze or wind. 

Rosenblum, L. D., & Saitō Noriko. (2011). Saishin nō Kagaku de Wakatta Gokan no kyōi. Kōdansha. 

Chapter 1: The Sounds of Silence

 In chapter one of the book, the author talks about hearing. Whether it was silent or beep baseball, this chapter was really good. The part that stood out to me the most was how we hear when we cannot actually hear. The sense that kicks in when hearing is gone is so neat. Even the topic of echolocation which is something that I knew about, but I never realized how much we all use it on a day to day. Very simple, but very cool to read. 

Rosenblum, L. D., & Saitō Noriko. (2011). Saishin nō Kagaku de Wakatta Gokan no kyōi. Kōdansha. 

Chapter 5: Cold Leftovers With a Fine North Dakota Cabernet

 In chapter five of the book, they discuss what it is like to taste food in the dark. I found this chapter very interesting because who thinks of something like that? The author described the food as bland which was puzzling since they were sitting in an upscale restaurant with notably good food. Rosenblum started with the bread. He described it as extra “spongey, yet still warm and comforting.” He then described the rice which had a familiar smell and when he tasted it he was able to taste the spice of curry sauce in it. The last thing he was was a green bean. He said he poked his plate until his fork picked something up and when he brought it to his mouth he was hit with a long vegetable. When he bit the green bean, the crunch overpowered the taste. Nonetheless, the food we eat is based on all of our senses. I really do think being able to experience consuming food with all our senses is exceptional and it has been proven in this chapter.

Rosenblum, L. D., & Saitō Noriko. (2011). Saishin nō Kagaku de Wakatta Gokan no kyōi. Kōdansha.

Sommelier

    A sommelier is a trained wine expert that works in fine establishments that provided all kinds of wine services including wine and food pairings. They may be referred to as wine stewards. Recent brain scans show that as sommeliers taste wine their brain reacts differently than novices. The sip of wine induces their brain to show greater activity in the functions of memory, language, and decision making. Doing so enhances the sommelier’s analytic tasting experience. Wine experts have rich conceptual knowledge and language to describe the taste and smell of wine.

    Next, I grew curious about the education and requirements needed to become a sommelier. It takes about three years and there are different levels. There is beginner level, certified level, industry experienced pro, and mastery. The two most popular training programs are the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS). These programs are self-paced and can take a year or longer to complete. The costs also vary anywhere from course anywhere from 600 to 1,800 dollars.

References 

https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/wine-sommelier-levels-what-they-mean/

COVID 19 & Anosmia

While reading Chapter 3, I couldn't believe how anosmia is so common now because of COVID-19. Anosmia is the loss of smell which could be partially or completely. We meet Karl Wuensch whose sense of smell starts fading. He suffers from anosmia because of large polyps in his sinuses and severely swollen turbinates. He explains how much he missed the smell of people. It affected him because there was an element missing in his intimate and casual interactions. It made me think of those who suffer from anosmia while having COVID-19. In the book, it is explained that most people who have anosmia become depressed. I am curious to see what the results will be for those who have it during the lockdown. COVID-19 affected many people's mental health. I would be curious to compare the people who developed anosmia in 2020 depression scores to those before the pandemic. 

Lip Reading

Lip reading can influence your auditory brain and can influence the brain regions you use to produce speech. You have a tendency to mimic the speech that you see. Lip-reading helps a person hear the speech of an individual. In the book, we see in the experiment that people who used lip-reading and listened to the talker understood more words. This helped them hear the talker easier giving them a better understanding and experience. Speech has evolved to be seen as well as heard. Are you a lip-reader? 

Below I attached Charlie's Lip Reading Challenge. How did you do?

Touch and Expressions

 An interesting thing that humans are able to do that isn't thought about is the ability to detect expressions from simply touching someone's face. Not only this but if presented with a photo of a random person and given five minutes to look at it you would be able to recognize the face through touch. How crazy is that? The ability to recognize a person's expressions by placing your hands on their face! In fact there is a method out there that is being taught and continues to be taught to a certain population to be able to effectively communicate with the world. This method is taught to deafblind people to be able to maintain communication with those around as well as be able to read a person's expressions, this method is known as Tadoma.What's astonishing about being able to read a person's expressions through touch is that you don't have to be an expert on how to read expressions whether that be happy, sadness, anger or fear. However this is mostly effective if the person's face that is being touched is constantly producing expressions. 

While it is not that common for someone to randomly place their hands on another person's face to read their expression, it's great to know that such a method exists to be able to recognize people along with assisting those who are unable to communicate through traditional methods. It is important for the brain to recognize faces and the ability that the brain has to recognize a face through any senses available is quite impressive. 

Rosenblum, L.D. (2011). See What I'm Sayin: The Extraordinary powers of our five senses. Norton Paperback.

The Pen Experiment and Happiness

 One of the research experiments that I found really interesting was the experiment about smiling and how it can boost your emotional state. This experiment required the participant to put a pen in between their teeth, and follow a couple of tasks. One of the tasks regarded rating the amusement of a cartoon that they were showed. They then had to complete the same tasks while putting the pen between their lips; similar to how someone would hold a cigarette to their mouth. 

The results concluded that participants rated the cartoons with higher levels of amusement when the pen was between their teeth, and not touching their lips. Since their facial muscles were already in the form that is similar to that of a smile, their brains registered their face as smiling, and their endorphins and serotonin levels were more likely to rise. 

CNBC wrote an article that I found extremely helpful and even more interesting after I read this section of the book. The muscle movements needed to create a smile send signals to the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain that makes you feel emotions. 

I found this interesting because it suggested that something as simple as smiling can increase your happiness levels, which is something that I think a lot of the world could benefit from!

Link to the CNBC article:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/21/simple-trick-that-can-make-you-happier-according-to-research.html

Hormones and symmetry

 In the book See what Im saying, the author discussed the effect symmetry has on women when they are in their fertile periods. The author stated that women prefer a more symmetrical man when they are in their fertile periods. A woman can actually smell the symmetry of a man during her fertile phase. Women are able to do this because they can smell the physiological processes that are occurring in a mans body, ones that are related to his symmetry.  Better symmetry relates to better health in humans, so a woman preferring the smell of a symmetrical man during her fertile phase is related to his reproductive potential. Studies have shown that a more symmetrical man smells better to a fertile women. They also rate a more dominant mans smell as better than a non dominant male.

It is crazy to think just how animalistic humans still are when it comes to our bodily processes. We may have advanced animalistic when it comes to technology, but we are still at our core making most of our decisions based on our bodily processes. 

                                                                     Reference

Rosenblum, L. D. (2011). See what I'm saying: The extraordinary powers of our five senses. Norton.

Taste based on appearance

Something interesting that was presented in the book was how the presentation of food can strongly influence what we taste. When thinking about food I think about taste and smell but I have never thought about how important appearance can strongly impose on what we taste. One of the examples presented in the book was if we were presented with four different drinks with four different juices in each one we would be able to identify them easily based on their color when tasting them. However, if we were color blind our ability to identify the flavors of the drinks would drop as low as 20%. This astonished me because the percentage to identify drinks if that person were color blind was significantly lower than I thought it would be. The perceptions that we have with associating food and color are great determinants in what we expect food to taste.

There has been much research conducted on this effect. For example in an article titled “Tasting with our eyes: Why bright blue chicken looks so strange" written by Linda Poon, Poon talks about an experiment conducted in 1970’s where participants were given steak and french fries under lighting that altered the color of the food to look normal, which the participants commented that they enjoyed the meal. Once the lighting turned normal and revealed that the steak was dyed blue and the french fries were dyed green, all  participants lost their appetite and some even claimed they felt sick. In the same article Poon quotes Charles Spence an experimental psychologist who specializes in perception of food at Oxford University, Spence states “Visual cues kind of have precedence and can set up expectations about what it is we think we’re going to taste and what the flavor will be.” as well as stating “And those expectations tend to be very powerful determinants of what we actually experience.” 

In conclusion with all this information coming out I now think to myself about the previous places I have gone out to eat at and whether I didn't like the food because of the lighting in the restaurant gave the food a bland color or if the food was simply not seasoned enough. There are so many things to factor in when going out to eat, especially when trying a new type of food. I think I will plan ahead when I go out to eat to try a restaurant that has good lighting to give the full effects of the food. While it isn't necessary I think it would allow me to have a better experience when eating at different restaurants.

Poon, Linda. “Tasting with Our Eyes: Why Bright Blue Chicken Looks so Strange.” NPR, NPR, 16 Apr. 2014, https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/04/16/303215873/tasting-with-our-eyes-why-bright-blue-chicken-looks-so-strange.

The Rubber Hand Illusion and Phantom Limb Pain

 Some people are born with a missing limb as a product of a genetic marker, or a deformity. Others need a limb amputated due to physical injury, cancer, infections, etc. A common occurrence that happens to most people after their limb is amputated is called phantom limb pain. This is when someone still feels the pain that a limb would feel. For example, after getting your left leg amputated, you run into a corner of a table, and feel a painful sensation that happens after stubbing your toe, except your foot is not there anymore.

To conduct research on this phenomenon, the rubber hand illusion has allowed researchers to collect and gather information on phantom limb pain. To conduct this, your forearms are facing down on the table, are separated by a wooden block, so you are unable to see what is happening to the left arm. A rubber hand is then put in place of your left hand with identical positioning to your right hand. 

The researcher then strokes both hands with a small paintbrush, giving a sensation to your nerves, allowing you to feel the stroking motion of the brush. After a couple minutes of this, you begin to feel the rubber hand as your own. Your body then would respond as if the rubber hand was your own as well. To test this, the researcher may grab the index finger of the rubber hand and bend it so far backwards that if it was your real hand, the finger would break. Most subjects feel this pain on the rubber hand as their own. 

After reading this chapter of the book, I went on YouTube to watch videos on how this test worked. Here is a link below to video I watched. 

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DphlhmtGRqI

Scents, Emotions and Memories

 One topic discussed in the book is the power of scents and how it adds emotions to our memories. Everyday we come across scents, however there is always that one scent that you come across that stops you in your tracks and forces an epiphany on you.  A memory that was once buried deep in your mind was suddenly triggered by that one scent that has forced you to recall that memory. For example, you walk by a new bakery shop down your street and a scent causes you to stop in your tracks and forces you to recall the smell of your grandma's house you once used to visit. Not only does scent have the ability to force you to recall a memory but it allows you to recall it in such vivid details and which you then become attached to that scent emotionally. This is known as Proustian Hypothesis.

Businesses and companies have taken advantage of the effects of scents and incorporated them into their own ways. In an article titled “What the nose knows” written by Colleen Walsh, Colleen quotes a 2018 article by Harvard Business Review which states “Scent branding is in vogue across a range of industries, including hotels that often pump their signature scents into rooms and lobbies.” Colleen goes on to comment how brands and companies often try to stand out from competing companies by using scents to have guests differentiate them emotionally and memorably. How are companies able to effectively pull this off? With the help of our olfactory bulb, which is a structure in the front of our brain that sends information to our body's central command.

The power of scent is what pushed Don Goldworm who is the co-founder of her “Olfactory Branding Company” who developed a thesis on olfactory branding at NYU. Goldworm states that “smell is the only fully developed sense a fetus has in the womb” as well as it being “the most developed in a child”. Goldworm makes reference to these facts because it is during our childhood where we determine what scents we like or dislike. This is where companies step in and use this to their own advantage to market themselves off by using scents that we associate with our childhood memories. If I had not come across this book I would not have known this interesting fact. Especially with companies finding new ways to appeal to all different groups of people, it is interesting to read how they use something like sent to market themselves off. 

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/

Walsh, C. (2020, February 27). How scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined - and exploited. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/

Interpersonal Synchrony

 

Chapter 9 Page 230

See What I'm Saying

Author: Lawrence D. Rosenblum

 

 

Interpersonal synchrony is when two people interact and tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body movements (emotions and behaviors). A good example of this is when we are playing with infants or young children. They often start to mimic the parent and do what they are doing. It is part of the bonding parents have with their children. The children learn from them and also can begin to act like their parents in certain ways.

Simple things such as touching or singing to a child becomes a form of interpersonal synchrony between infants and their caregivers. These interactions are important for early childhood development. This allows children to understand themselves and others. When we are interacting with children, we often do so through the use of expressions. The children then mimic these expressions and learn how to use them in different situations. This does not always have to do with playful interactions. Interactions of any sort can develop into interpersonal synchrony. For example, When the young child does something they are not supposed to, they see the parent has an angry facial expression and over time they learn that that is the expression to use when you are upset. They then begin to use the same expressions when they feel similar emotions and so on.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02078/full#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20interpersonal%20coordination%20%E2%80%93%20also%20referred,social%20exchanges%20in%20early%20development.