How Does The Body Know What Sense To Sense?

[eden]

Sense perception, weather it is smelling,hearing, tasting, etc, how does the body know what to sense?  For example, hot and cold, how does the body know what is hot and what is cold?  How does it know the difference bewteen hot and cold in order to activate those specific sensory receptors for hot and receptors for cold? 

 

Another example is how does the tongue sense hot of a chemical instead of sensing cold? What mechanism separates the sensation from hot and cold so the tongue knows that chilli peppers are hot and not cold? Is there some type of information present in chemicals that tells the tongue it is either hot or cold?  

 

I hope my question is clear, I am trying to understand how the body knows when to sense a specific sensation as opposed to another sensation. How can it tell the difference bewteen something hot and cold? (for example).

 

 We all know sensation occurs via sensory neurons, but how does sensation sense one sense instead of another like hot and cold?I 

 

I think there must be some sort of information or mechanism in sensed things that allow the body to read it and sense that instead of another , what is this information or ability?

Thanks 

[GAHD]

AFAIK Heat temperature and heat Taste are two different types of receptors. The taste one is more of an acid response.

Food for thought: the body doesn't always "know" what it's sensing.EG Hypothermia
Related: Synesthesia

[eden]

AFAIK Heat temperature and heat Taste are two different types of receptors. The taste one is more of an acid response.

 

Food for thought: the body doesn't always "know" what it's sensing.EG Hypothermia

Related: Synesthesia

 

My questions still stands, how does the body know how to sense something and not something else?  What is it about sensed things that trigger certain receptors and not other ones? Or why trigger them at all? 

[exchemist]

My questions still stands, how does the body know how to sense something and not something else?  What is it about sensed things that trigger certain receptors and not other ones? Or why trigger them at all? 

You've got it the wrong way round. The body does not "trigger" the receptor.  It is the environment that triggers it. It then reports the fact it has been "triggered"via the nerves. 

 

For example here is the Wiki article on thermoreceptors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoreceptor

 

And here is one of smell (olfactory) receptors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_receptor

 

You will see there is a fair amount about the details of the mechanisms that is still not understood.