ABSTRACT

We live in a world of richly complex sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and colors. Traditionally we see our major senses as somehow separate if not always equal, but this is mainly so we can talk about them. It is not surprising, therefore, that keeping in touch with what’s happening outside that boney canister on top of the human spinal column is no easy task. Nor is it surprising that all of us don’t make sense of things in the outside world in precisely the same ways. However, the brain is not just a disinterested bystander in our lifelong endeavors to stay alive and prosper. None of us can get through life scot-free without doing some serious life-preserving brainwork along the way, and from the brain’s point of view, getting safely through each passing day is a delicate balancing act. It must avoid being overwhelmed by all the sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and colors its senses are picking up as clues about the outside world (and the inner one, too). Yet the brain cannot be too careless about making sense of what its senses are telling it—inattention that can sometimes lead to embarrassment, accidents, or worse . . . possibly death.