Question 1

How can you touch your nose with your eyes closed?

Accepted Answer

You rely on proprioception, a sense that tracks the position of your limbs without vision. Sensors in your muscles and tendons constantly report the angle of each joint to your brain, letting your finger find your nose in total darkness without memory or touch.

Question 2

What is proprioception and is it a sixth sense?

Accepted Answer

Proprioception is the sense of where your body parts are in space, based on signals from muscle spindles and tendon sensors. Named by Charles Sherrington in 1906, it is often called a sixth sense because it works constantly and silently, without any dedicated organ like the eye or ear.

Question 3

What happens if you lose proprioception?

Accepted Answer

Without proprioception you cannot feel where your limbs are, even though your muscles still work. Ian Waterman lost it after an autoimmune illness and had to control every movement by watching himself. In darkness he collapsed, because vision was his only remaining map of his own body.

proprioception

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The Man Who Lost His Body