sensacions

Sensacions, in Catalan and related languages, refer to the subjective experiences produced by sensory receptors in response to stimuli. They are the first stage of information processing in perception, representing the raw data that the brain later organizes and interprets.

Common modalities include the five classical senses—vision, audition, taste, smell, and somatosensation (touch)—but the sense of internal states such as hunger, thirst, proprioception, balance, and temperature are also considered sensations.

Biologically, sensations begin with specialized receptors: photoreceptors in the retina, hair cells in the inner ear, taste receptor cells on the tongue, olfactory receptor neurons in the nasal cavity, and mechanoreceptors in the skin. These receptors transduce physical energy into electrical signals that travel via cranial nerves and spinal pathways to the brain, where they are relayed through the thalamus to cortical areas.

Sensation versus perception: sensation is the detection and encoding of stimuli, while perception is the brain's interpretation and construction of meaning from these signals. Perception is shaped by attention, previous experience, expectation, and context, leading to variability in reported sensations.

In research, sensacions are studied in psychophysics and neuroscience through concepts such as thresholds, acuity, adaptation, and crossmodal effects. They have practical implications in medicine, ergonomics, product design, and sensory rehabilitation.