Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

Hey Brain Stuff, Lauren Boglebaum here.

What if you lost all sense of self?

You know you have a body, you can see it there beneath you, but you can't feel it.

You aren't paralyzed per se, just unaware that your body is moving unless you're looking at it.

And then only under intense concentration and your own watchful eye

can you reach out towards something and grasp it.

But if you don't look or pay close attention, the object

will either slip out of your hand because you're holding it too loosely, or you'll

squeeze it with such intensity that your knuckles go pale. The ability to feel our bodies to unconsciously sense them is known as

proprioception. It's sometimes referred to as the secret sense or the sixth sense.

Unlike our five senses, sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, which are obvious to us,

the sense of controlling and owning our own bodies is hidden.

We're usually unaware of the sensation unless something goes wrong.

Proprioception is the awareness of where your body is in space.

For example, while walking, sensor receptors on your skin, joints, and muscles send signals to the brain that make you aware of your right foot being in front of you, even if your eyes are closed or if you're not looking down at your feet.

Appropriation is sometimes used interchangeably with the term kinesthesia,

but they are actually very different perceptions.

Kinesthesia is the sense of movement of our muscles, tendons, and joints.

For example, while walking, the brain picks up on the sensations of force, velocity, and the

propelling of your body forward from the inner ear which oversees balance orientation to sense movement.

You're aware of the sensation of your body being in motion even if you're focused on the scenery around you and not on your body.

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