Science article about sixth sense...

Humans Have a 'Sixth Sense', And It's Actually Vital to Our Health

https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-have-a-sixth-sense-and-its-actually-vital-to-our-health

Most people are familiar with the five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste), but not everyone knows that we have an additional sense called interoception.

This is the sense of our body's internal state. It helps us feel and interpret internal signals that regulate vital functions in our body, like hunger, thirst, body temperature, and heart rate.

Although we don't take much notice of it, it's an extremely important sense as it ensures that every system in the body is working optimally.

Despite how important interoception is to all aspects of our health, little is known about whether men and women differ in how accurately they sense their body's internal signals.

Mental health

Our findings may be important for helping us understand why many common mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression) are more prevalent in women than men from puberty onward.

Several theories have been proposed to explain this – such as genetics, hormones, personality, and exposure to stress or childhood adversity.

But because we know that interoception is important for wellbeing, it could be possible that differences in interoception may partly explain why more women suffer from anxiety and depression than men.

But while we know these differences exist, we still don't know what causes them. Researchers have a few theories, including the distinct physiological and hormonal changes most men and women experience. It may also be caused by differences in how many men and women are taught to think about their emotions or interoceptive signals, like pain.

Better understanding all the factors that affect interoceptive ability may be important for someday developing better treatments for many mental health conditions.