Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: paul.fr on 27/07/2007 22:12:38
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getting dressed in a morning, we all do it. Why is it that moments after getting dressed i no longer feel that i am wearing my socks and other items of clothing?
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Desensitisation.
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We do feel our socks and clothes - I certainly do - we just try to ignore that feeling because it is a constant sensation.
In some ways it is like the fact that cigarette smokers don't smell their cigarettes, because they are constantly exposed to it, but a non smoker will quickly notice the smell.
I am always more comfortable not wearing shoes or socks.
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The psychological term is "sensory adaptation". It is important to differentiate between sensation & perception. Sensation is how we gather the information and send it to our brain; perception is what we do with that information - how we process it.
If we were to take note of everything our senses tell us, our brain would be swamped by sensations we don't need to be aware of. So, our brain uses a kind of priority censor that filters out sensations that aren't important - our perception threshold is raised. If your socks were itchy, you'd notice them well enough because it would register in your brain as an irritant that needs sorting out. Or if 1 of your socks got twisted, you'd feel it because the sensation had changed. In general, if a sensation doesn't change, we don't take so much notice of it (as George correctly stated).
Another example - and I think we have all had experience of this - is this; you can be in a room full of people all chatting among themselves and you're not paying attention to anything that's being said except by the person you are talking to. But if someone mentions your name, or something that's of interest to you, you hear it clearly enough. They don't need to say it any louder than they've been talking, but your brains thinks "A-HA... I need to take note of this". Your perception threshold becomes lowered.
Although our senses are registering all the time, only those sensations that our brain thinks are worthy of attention are actually perceived; the rest are simply discarded.
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I experience foot pain pretty constantly and have struggled to find shoes that would help me alleviate the pain. Well, i have to say that I have found them. They fit well. They have reduced my heel pain as well as my fasciitis symptoms. I can walk much easier and longer now . So happy I got these shoes! <<<<SPAM REMOVED>>>> do the job!
MODERATOR NOTE: THIS POSTER HAS BEEN BANNED FOR REPEATEDLY POSTING SPAM, DESPITE A WARNING
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It is very weird question that need all the brains in the world! 8)