sensory adaptation
Perception tunes out
Sensory adaptation is the process by which sensory receptors become less responsive to constant stimulation over time.
You stop noticing the hum of a refrigerator, the smell of your own home, or the pressure of clothes against your skin.
The phenomenon allows the nervous system to prioritize new or changing stimuli over unchanging background conditions.
- habituationDiminished reaction over time
- tuning outDeliberately not hearing
- proprioceptionBody's spatial self-awareness
- desensitizationReduced response over time
- ambient noiseEver-present environmental audio
light intensity · olfactory · smell · nose blindness · touch · ringing ears · neural plasticity · afterimage · blind spot · vision · taste · temperature fluctuations · spatial orientation · receptors · homeostasis · numbness · baseline · acclimatization
perceptual stability vs. change detection
sensory adaptationhypervigilance
Heightened threat sensitivity