Examining the Role of Six Senses in the Development of Children

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between the six senses and child development, exploring the fundamental role of sensory neurons in transmitting information to the brain. It highlights the significance of touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste in shaping a child's cognitive, emotional, and social growth. The essay emphasizes the importance of physical touch, such as massage, in fostering healthy development, enhancing cognitive functions, and strengthening the parent-child bond. Furthermore, it discusses the structure and function of neurons, including sensory and motor neurons, in transmitting signals throughout the nervous system. The essay references research findings on the impact of sensory experiences on infant development, emphasizing the benefits of early sensory stimulation for long-term well-being. It also covers the impact of lack of physical touch during a baby’s early years. Overall, the essay provides a comprehensive overview of how sensory experiences contribute to a child's holistic development.

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SENSES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
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Neurotransmission
In our daily life, there are many experiences in the world such as noise, soft talks, pain
among others and there are organs that are used to transmit information to the brain. In the
central nervous system, there are neurons which are used to conduct impulses using axons or
nerve fibers. There are three main categories of neurons namely: sensory neurons, interneurons
as well as motor neurons and each of them has its function in the body. The brain becomes what
it is due to its functional and structural properties of the interlinked neurons. The brain of all
mammals has between a hundred million and hundred billion neuron which depends on the
organism. Each neuron in the body has a cell body, an axon, and dendrites. Neurons transmit
signals from one location to the other, around different regions of the nervous system.
Additionally, they also link the sense receptors to the central nervous system. It is also their role
to link one section of the nervous system to the other, for instance, in the spine and the brain.
They transmit signals from the nervous system to parts like the glands and muscles which are
known as the effector organs (Maric et al., 2017, p. 157). After stimulating the neurons, they
transmit electrical impulses. A motor neuron has a nucleus which is enclosed by cytoplasm. This
cytoplasm creates an extended fiber which is bounded by a membrane of a cell known as an
axon. The axon transmits the electrical impulse which is secured by a fatty sheath, and it is a bit
like a plastic covering around an electrical wire. This fatty sheath tends to increase the speed of
transmitting a nerve impulse. The nerve ending branches to form a good connection with the
effector neurons or other neurons. Evidently, where two neurons meet, they do not make a direct
connection but instead, where they tend to meet there is somehow a very small gap which is
referred to as a synapse. Additionally, the signals need to cross the synapse in order to continue
with their journey from or to the central nervous system. The entire idea is done using chemicals

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which usually diffuse through the gap which is left between two neurons. When the neurons send
or receive messages, they carry electric impulses in their axons. The fatty sheath in the axons are
made by using unique cell known as glia. Additionally, the glia which makes the sheath in the
brain are known as oligodendrocytes, and also referred to as Schwann cells in the peripheral
nervous system. When the impulses are transmitted to the brain through the neurons, the brain
tells the entire body how to react by sending impulses through the neurons again (Sando et al.,
2017, p. 319). For instance, if an individual accidentally steps on a hot coal, the nerves located in
the skin send a message of pain to the brain, and the brain sends a message to the nerves
informing the muscles to react by pulling the leg away from the hot coal.
List of Human Senses
Humans have five senses namely: sight which enables people to see, smell used for
smelling, touch, hearing, and taste.
Importance of Touching a Baby
All parents should be aware of the importance of touching or massaging their baby
regularly and understand that it is a tactic to offer them much more, creating more time for
bonding and giving them healthier development. One of the major significant experiences for
their baby’s happy growth is giving them a loving touch. Evidently, research reveals that regular
massage and touch by a caregiver or a parent are important to the baby’s development, learning,
and communication(Gonçalves et al., 2013, p. 830).
Research reveals that touching a baby may lead to enhanced cognitive, physiological,
emotional as well as social development. Particularly, baby massage to proven to improve
mental growth and increase the level of attentiveness and alertness in children. Research shows

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that lack of physical touch during the baby’s early years may result to slow growth. In other
words, infants who do not experience physical contact with the mothers grow at a slower rate
compared to those who are regularly touched. Physical contact enables children to increase their
mental growth within the first six months from birth whereas those babies with limited physical
contact develop at a slower rate. Additionally, enhanced cognitive development is likely to be
seen to last long as late as eight years of age which illustrates the benefits of touch to a baby.
Parents should understand that their baby’s initial emotional bonds are built from physical touch,
and they serve as the base for intellectual and emotional development later in baby’s life.
Notably, gentle touch may assist small babies to grow much stronger and reduce the level of
feeling anxious. In many birth centers or hospitals, infants are placed on the chest of the mother
or the abdomen part in order to give them skin-to-skin contact. Additionally, the touch between
the baby and the mother brings the close to each other emotionally, and it is known as attachment
or bonding. Research proves that premature babies who are touched or massaged while still in
the hospital are likely to gain weight and are also ready to be taken back home together with their
parents much earlier than infants who are not touched (Gonçalves et al., 2013, p. 831).
Parents should also learn that touching a baby more often makes them cry less. Research
suggests that increasing mother to a baby contact reduces the level of crying. It was proven by
the way mothers carry their babies, and research shows that babies who are carried for a long
time cry less especially the first six weeks when babies cry the most. Babies tend to feel safe
when they are touched, and it increases the sense of security compared to when they are left
alone or untouched (Corbetta and Snapp-Childs, 2009, p. 50). Additionally, some mothers are
afraid of holding their children for long because they are afraid they will get spoilt rather this is
not the truth. Touching a baby makes them feel that their mother cares about them and their

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needs are understood. Mothers should not hesitate to hold their babies whenever they cry
because it brings a sense of love to their babies.

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References
Corbetta, D. and Snapp-Childs, W. (2009) ‘Seeing and touching: The role of sensory-motor
experience on the development of infant reaching’, Infant Behavior and Development,
32(1), pp. 44–58. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2008.10.004.
Gonçalves, R. V., Figueiredo, E. M., Mourão, C. B., Colosimo, E. A., Fonseca, S. T. and
Mancini, M. C. (2013) ‘Development of infant reaching behaviors: Kinematic changes in
touching and hitting’, Infant Behavior and Development, 36(4), pp. 825–832. doi:
10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.09.009.
Maric, H. M., Hausrat, T. J., Neubert, F., Dalby, N. O., Doose, S., Sauer, M., Kneussel, M. and
Strømgaard, K. (2017) ‘Gephyrin-binding peptides visualize postsynaptic sites and
modulate neurotransmission.’, Nature Chemical Biology, 13(2), pp. 153–160. doi:
10.1038/nchembio.2246.
Sando, R., Bushong, E., Zhu, Y., Huang, M., Considine, C., Phan, S., Ju, S., Uytiepo, M.,
Ellisman, M. and Maximov, A. (2017) ‘Assembly of Excitatory Synapses in the Absence
of Glutamatergic Neurotransmission’, Neuron, 94(2), p. 312–321.e3. doi:
10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.047.