Page 17 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

2• Chapter 1

I store it!

I sense it! I know it!

CAPTURING INFORMATION
You obtain information through your five senses: sight,
hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Imagine yourself watching
a television program about your favorite hobby. You see and
hear the information. You receive this information in an
auditory manner (you hear it) and visually (you see it).
These delivery methods, using only two of your five senses,
are how the majority of people believe information is taught
and learned. The truth is that a great deal of information is
conveyed to you through your other senses: smell, taste,
and touch. Olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste) sensations
are more rarely used in formal learning activities than hear-
ing and sight. However, people rely extensively on these
senses in the home and at work (detecting smoke, gas leaks,
cooking, and so on). You know the old adage, “The way to a
man’s heart is through his stomach!”
Your sense of touch also tells you a great deal about the
world around you. You use it to check a child’s temperature,
the fineness of your handiwork, or the car’s vibration. Your
sense of touch is intricately involved in your kinesthetic (mo-
tor) skills with which you write, learn a new hobby, drive,
get dressed, and many, many other physical activities. Some
emotional information is communicated through touch,
such as a gentle pat or a warm, loving hug.