The Sixth Sense: How Your Brain Knows Where Your Body Is

One of the most important is proprioception, often called the "sixth sense." It's the ability to sense the position and movement of your body without looking, allowing you to walk, balance, reach for objects, and navigate the world without consciously thinking about every movement.

In this lecture, Katie Wilkinson, Professor of Biological Sciences at San José State University, explores the remarkable sensory system that makes proprioception possible. Drawing from her research in neurophysiology, she explains how specialized receptors in our muscles continuously send information to the brain and what happens when those systems break down.

From balance and coordination to genetic disorders that impair movement, this talk uncovers the hidden sense that quietly shapes nearly everything we do and reveals how scientists are working to understand one of the body's most important yet overlooked systems.