This Way Up

We’re all familiar with the five senses`, but lesser known is an internal sense called PROPRIOCEPTION (‘position awareness’). This is our unconscious perception of the position and movement of our limbs in space. Nerves in the body and the semi-circular canals of the inner ear send information to our cerebellum (a structure at the back of the brain), and without it we couldn’t undertake simple tasks like brushing our teeth or driving a car. An Olympic diver like Tom Daly is heavily reliant on this sense for controlling his movements in space.