Friday, November 12, 2010

Survival Senses - Proprioception


Our survival senses are normally divided into two basic groups and are commonly referred to as our external senses and our internal senses. Our external senses allow us to respond to physical events and happenings in our environment that can affect our bodies. These include our senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. Our internal senses include things like hunger, thirst, pain, balance, location and fatigue. Proprioception is one of our most important internal senses. This is quite simply our internal sense of balance.

Proprioception is what gives us the ability to walk in the dark or to move without having to look at our feet. If you’ve ever suffered an inner ear infection, you may have unknowingly experienced a lack of proprioception (balance). Your sense of balance may have even been disrupted by a temporary spell of dizziness. In cases such as these, your sense of proprioception can be helped or restored through the use of your external senses. Grabbing on to an object to help steady yourself or the simple act of keeping your eyes open can help to restore your sense of proprioception.

Most importantly, proprioception is what helps us keep a level head. Our internal sense of balance allows us to keep from walking around with our heads rolling around on our shoulders. Proprioception allows us to hold objects in a steady position so that they may be used effectively and efficiently. It also allows us to move or position our bodies in a relatively safe and comfortable manner. It allows you to lean back in a chair without falling over backwards (usually!). It allows you to step over an object or recover when you may stumble over an object or to fall with a minimum of injury as your body seeks to restore its sense of balance. It allows you to stand on one leg without falling over or to climb a ladder or a tree. A proper sense of balance is a survival necessity.

Maintaining a good sense of balance is important for your survival. A lack of balance can lead to injury, accidents or an inability to respond to changes in your environment. There are many things which can impair your sense of balance. Illness is one the most common causes of a loss of balance and can affect almost anyone. A lack of proper rest, insufficient nourishment or hydration, and the improper use of drugs and alcohol are all factors which can affect your sense of balance. Staying healthy, getting proper rest and nourishment and limiting the use of those things which can impair your balance will help you prevent a lack of balance that could endanger your survival.

Got proprioception?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post. You can exercise that sense when you stalk animals and try to 'freeze' in position when animal becomes alerted. Take small steps and be ready to freeze if you have to, even if its standing with one foot in the air.

Hope I get to use this this weekend - going out this weekend to see if Bambi lives another day . . . :^)

Anonymous said...

I don't know how you always come up with such good postings. I cont. to enjoy them.

Ken said...

...wouldn't "location" be considered/categorized an external sense?...unless,yer referring to our perception of the location of our appendages,in relation to our body(?)...kinda like,not having to look at our feet when walking,cuz our brain knows the "location" of them(?)...

...i love the net,learn sumthin'new every time i fire up the coal burner in the 'puter...Thank You RW...

riverwalker said...

To: anonymous 7:08

A proper sense of balance and equilibrium is vital to many of our activities...hunting is just one example. It can be extremely hard to remain motionless without a well developed sense of balance or to hold a rifle steady...

Good luck this weekend!

RW

riverwalker said...

To: anonymous 9:57

Thanks for the encouraging comment.

I try to relate our daily struggle to survive with those things we all have in common. Proprioception is just a fancy way of referring to our inner sense of balance which is a vital part of making it through the day.

Thanks anon.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: Ken

Location refers to our kinesthetic sense or the knowledge of the location in space of our body parts and is a term more commonly applied to movement.This refers to the fact that you can close your eyes and still know where you or your body parts are, unless suffering an impairment.

An example of this is performed by closing your eyes and seeing how close you can put your hand in front of your face without touching it.

This kinesthetic sense is what allows you to use your hands to assemble a gun in the dark. You can sense what your hands are doing, even if you can't see them.

An inner ear infection might affect your sense of balance. This would degrade your proprioceptive sense but not the kinesthetic sense. You would still be able to walk but only by using your sense of sight to maintain your balance. You would have a difficult time trying to walk with your eyes closed.

While I believe that your proprioceptive and kinesthetic senses are closely related, I consider them separate.

Thanks Ken.

BTW, the more common term for testing your proprioceptive and kinesthetic senses is the "field sobriety test".lol

Anonymous said...

Thanks Riverwalker for well wishes for hunt - I saw only one deer all weekend, but my brother took a young doe for Thanksgiving tamales so it was a great hunt.

Did see a close up of a bobcat, I love those monte kitty kats! Too pretty to shoot, I'm glad they are out there. Hopefully, a later hunt will be better - that cool front passing thru Saturday was a blessing, RGV is too hot too long.

Andrea said...

Good post. You can exercise that sense when you stalk animals and try to 'freeze' in position when animal becomes alerted. Take small steps and be ready to freeze if you have to, even if its standing with one foot in the air. Hope I get to use this this weekend - going out this weekend to see if Bambi lives another day . . . :^)

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