Do humans have a sixth sense? A group of neuroscientists wants to find out.

Recently, a group of neuroscientists at the Scripps Research Institute was rewarded $14.2 million in NIH award to map the body's "hidden sixth sense." Led by a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, a group of scientists will investigate this sixth sense also known as "Interoception."

Here are the scientists who will work collaboratively to investigate interoception:

1. Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, Professor in neuroscience at Scripps Research Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

2. Li Ye, the N. Paul Whittier Chair in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Scripps Research Institute.

3. Bosiljka Tasic, the Director of Molecular Genetics at the Allen Institute.

4. Xin Jin, Scripps Research Associate Professor.

The study of interoception stems from questions such as "How does our brain know when we need to breathe, when our blood pressure drops, or when we are fighting an infection? The study of interoception is essentially discovering the ways our internal organs and the nervous system stay in sync.

Before we get into interoception, we first need to understand the existing five senses:

1. Hearing (Audition): Detected by the ears, which sense vibration or the sound waves.

2. Sight (Vision): Detected by the eyes, which can sense light, color, and movement.

3. Taste (Gustation): Detected by the taste receptors on the tongue, which senses dissolved substances in food and drink.

4. Smell (Olfaction) Detected by the nose, which senses airborne chemical molecules.

5. Touch (Somatosensation): Detected by the skin, which senses pressure, vibration, temperature, and pain.

These five senses are essential for our daily life. These senses help humans not only for safety and survival by detecting and avoiding dangers such as oncoming traffic, spoiled food, or fire, but also for building human-to-human connection by allowing us to use these senses to learn, communicate, and socialize to build deeper relationships and societal cohesion.

Then what is interoception, and how could it benefit humans?

Unlike the five classic senses, which are external and rely on specialized sensory organs, interoception functions through a network of neural pathways that monitor functions like circulation, digestion, and immune activity. Because of its ability to signal from deep within the body while often being processed outside conscious awareness, interoception has earned its moniker "hidden sixth sense." Historically, the study of interoception has been neglected due to its complexity: not only do signals from internal organs spread widely, but these signals overlap and are difficult to isolate and quantify. Sensory neurons connect a wide range of internal organs such as the heart and gastrointestinal tract, and this team of scientists plan to build a comprehensive atlas that anatomically and molecularly demonstrate these neural pathways by generating a detailed 3D map of the neuronal routes patterns and the cell types of such sensory neurons. This standardized framework for mapping the body's internal sensory wiring could show how neurons that send signals from the gut differ from those that are linked to the bladder or fat. Dysregulation of interoceptive pathways has been implicated in autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, neurodegeneration, and high blood pressure. The ultimate goal here is to uncover core principles of body-to-brain communication that could guide new therapeutic approaches to treat various diseases.

References

1. Scripps Research. Scripps Research-led team receives $14.2M NIH award to map the body’s “hidden sixth sense.” Published October 8, 2025. Accessed November 19, 2025. https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2025/20251008-nih-award.html​

2. Scripps Research Magazine. Interoception: A sense of self. Published Fall 2021. Accessed November 19, 2025. https://magazine.scripps.edu/features/2021/fall/interoception-a-sense-of-self/

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