Sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell send sensory messages to the brain at a speed of 430 km/hr. The two cerebral hemispheres deal with 11 million information signals per second - an imperceptible and continual effort. This continual flow of information is sorted and analyzed by the brain, which directs the senses, organizes them, and improves them without any technological intervention.

The brain’s plasticity, which we are only beginning to understand allows it to continually adapt. If you lose one sense, the brain re-organizes and compensates by increasing the power of the other senses. Like an extraordinary talented blind artist who is able to use his fingers to feel the color of the paint before applying it to the canvas. Occasionally, the brain decides to do things differently and orchestrates the senses in an original way, as in the case of synesthetes, who are able to make an association between two senses or more at a time. There are even those able to physically experience the pain of others.

Also available in French: Le mélange des sens