SENSES How your senses can influence your communication with others: the rela- tionship between senses, perception and behavior. Senses and body language can influence interpersonal communication. What we percei- ve and how we interpret what we perceive influences how we thrive in the world: Perception is based on the interpretation of signals sent to the brain by the five senses. Each sense -- touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing -- affects how we react to the world and how we inter- pret events around us (Psychology, 2018). This paper will examine the different meanings, interpretations and concepts of senses, perception and behavior to explain how our senses can influences our communication with others based on the fact that each person behaves, perceives and processes information different than another. As human beings we all have defined senses in our organism that help us to develop and perform in our environment and to adapt to new events. Each sense fulfills a specific function while also simultaneously working together with all other senses to give us a complete picture of what is happening. Senses are always taking in environmental stimuli into the brain, however “our perceptual field...includes so many stimuli that it is impossible for our brains to process and make sense of it all” (Psychology, 2018). This means that even though humans sense hundreds of stimuli per minute, it is the brain that filters throu- gh the stimuli before sending a response; while our sensory receptors are constantly collecting informa- tion from the environment, it is ultimately how we interpret that information that affects how we inte- ract with the world (Psychology, 2018) Senses refer to receiving stimuli biologically, but perception refers to the process of selecting, organi- zing, and interpreting information, includes the perception of select stimuli that pass through our perceptual filters, are organized into our existing structures and patterns, and are then interpreted based on previous experiences (Psychology, 2018) How each person perceives any circumstance is “affected by a number of factors, including beliefs, values, prejudices [and] culture” (Psychology, 2018). Although perception primarily takes place in the brain, how we perceive others and situations affects how we communicate with others and the outside world. Interpersonal communication is influenced by social perception. That is to say, what is interpreted in any social situation can immediately influence our behavior. How senses and perception interact will determine the type of communication people will have with others. Since the combination of our senses determines what we perceive from other people, including their emotions and behavior, the way we understand gives us a clearer picture of our impressions about the world. Since “perceptual systems, particularly smell, connect with memory and emotion centers to enable sensory cues to trigger feelings and recollections” it is clear why perception influences interpersonal communication in social settings since humans use previous experiences to organize sensory information (Konnikova, 2012). For exam- ple, a person who can not communicate in the same language but can speak another language, will express themselves and will be able to communicate based on their own perceptions, without taking into account that the person who listens to them could understand it in a different way due to a cultural difference. In this case, paying attention and leaving our previous perceptions aside, we can establish real communication with others regardless of cultural differences or barriers in language. So how do we communicate with others if no matter what is important to us, we could always be misunderstood or misinterpreted? How do we communicate if we are not interested in what the other person is saying? According to Susan T Fiske, “selecting is the first part of the perception process, in which we focus our attention on certain incoming sensory information. ((Fiske and Taylor, 1991). Meaning, we focus our attention on perceiving certain things over others when our brain receives huge amounts of sensory information. Humans “tend to pay attention to information that is salient. Salience is the degree to which something attracts our attention in a particular context” (Fiske and Taylor, 1991). We can also apply this concept to our communication. In social settings, people can take advantage of this perceptual tendency by adapting the topic and content to the interests of the people in the conversation. We tend to focus on what we want to say instead of listening to what another person is saying. If we were to pay attention with our senses we could observe that outsi- de the verbal conversation, a silent conversation exists that could tell us a lot more about others. Since every person sees the same situations in a different way each one of them will communicate with others based on their own perceptions and meanings. This forces us to connect to the reality we see at the moment we are living. To improve communication with other people we can be present in the conversation and listen to what the person is saying outside of our own preconceived notions, perceptions and triggers. The meaning of the word “presence” is to be available or to exist at a certain place or time. To be fully present with others with full attention, awareness and use of your senses will positively affect how you communicate with others and in turn will affect your future reactions and behavior. Accor- ding to Matt Batcheldor “our communication with the environment and subsequent behavior towards other humans and our planet is enormously influenced by our sensory inputs...[now is] an extraordinary opportunity to allow us to understand our human sensory inputs for the benefit of all society”. This means that “te way we perceive events affects our behavior [and] in order for an individual to communicate properly with people, [they] must adjust [their] perception” (Batcheldor, M, 2018). In conclusion, the attention we put on using our senses can change our perception in order to properly communicate with others. Communication does not mean only an exchange of informa- tion, but also means an integration with another person’s beliefs and culture. In order to truly com- municate we must get involved with another culture, another way of thinking and then respect their way of behaving. There is always another way of thinking and understanding. We have to learn not to compare realities or situations. We can learn to keep our mind open to always try to find a new way to communicate with other people without focusing only on their language, to learn how to communicate with others based on their way of thinking and behavior. Samoel S. E.