Equilibrioception || Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes
The sense of balance. A generally unobtrusive physiological sense in humans and animals to prevent them from falling over as they move or stand. It entails a visual system, a vestibular system (spatial awareness via the inner ear apparatus), and proprioception ("kinesthesia," the sense that lets one perceive the location, movement, and action of various parts of the body), all working together to orient the individual to the surrounding environment (and gravity) to achieve balance.
Balance is a quintessentially multi-modal sense. To summarize an array of medical literature on the matter, balance occurs when (1) sensory input (vestibular, visual, proprioceptive) is processed by (2) the cerebellum (coordination and regulation), the cerebral cortex (higher-level thinking), and the brainstem (sorting of sensory information), and is then paired with (3) motor output reflexes, motor impulses, and postural adjustments.
Cognitive or physiological damage, spatial disorientation, illness, or malfunctioning sensory inputs all affect one's sense of balance and one's dependence on it. As cheekily noted in an editorial published in Behavioral Sciences, "It is said that (perfect) balance is the action of not moving."
❯ ❯ Adapted from a senses-writing masterpost: 15 Unconventional Senses and Sensory Attributes
