The chemicals that transmit sensations of salty, sour and bitter tastes affect the workings of so-called ion channels, which normally let sodium into cells and potassium out.

The muscles are there, about the ears and beneath the scalp, and so are the nerves which transmit sensations to the brain, but they are under-developed because they are not needed.

In 1870 he introduced the "hydrostatic concept" involving the semicircular canals of the inner ear and their ability to transmit sensations of position, and therefore providing assistance in equilibrioception.

He also recommends heat treatment: "Pain nerves also transmit sensations of temperature.

Reynolds then describes the songs as being rooted in "doubt, anguish, despair" while the "tightness and brightness of their sound transmits contradictory sensations of confidence, vigour and euphoria."

She juxtaposed scientific and descriptive text with objects that strove to transmit bodily sensations visually.

But the technology of transmitting sensations directly into the brain could lead to, for instance, artificial limbs that provide a sense of touch.

"I hope to find patterns of words that can transmit sensations in the simplest and most direct way, without using highfalutin language," he said.

They include the identification of nerve fibers devoted to transmitting itchy sensations, of brain sectors that process itch, and of molecules that seem to provoke itch.

The taste buds are linked to nerves that transmit sensations of taste, temperature and touch to the brain.