The Doorways of Perception

Abstract

Perception involves sorting out signal patterns that are meaningful from ones that are not, deciphering the information they contain, and then initiating an appropriate response. Chemical information detectors respond directly to form, while the other modalities depend on the pattern of the receptors that detected objects and events activate. Chemical information detection is involved in genetic and cellular regulation, taste and smell sensations, and hormone and pheromone signals. The other sensory modalities respond to various stimuli, like electromagnetic radiation (vision) and air pressure waves (hearing). The different receptors detect different types of meaningful information and respond by transmitting neuronal signals to the brain where it can be interpreted.