The Power of Your Senses

What a fascinating journey into our senses and the effect that they have on our lives.

It gives insights into positive changes you can make to your day. The author comes across as very knowledgeable and it comes across well to the reader.

What I really liked was that at the end of each section there was a round up of the most salient points held within it. You can refer back to these if needed.

A very interesting read indeed.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I think many will have experienced the power of your senses at some point during your life, the nostalgia a smell can induce, the exquisite taste of certain foods and the homely sight and sounds of your own home. And I knew a small amount about the power our senses can have but hadn’t really thought about it.

This book was absolutely brilliant and so SO interesting. There’s so much I didn’t know and perception, experiences and senses are so much more intertwined than I had thought.

The book is founded on a lot of scientific research and includes all sorts of interesting information and knowledge gleaned from science. (I mean, who knew food tastes 11% better with heavy cutlery and we buy more indulgent products when it’s cold?!) I suppose we can be influenced in so many ways by our senses and it was really amazing to read.

So many mindblown moments and the pages flew by. It was really well written and the words flowed effortlessly. It was a joy to read and learn from this book. I learnt loads! It was really accessible too, so you don’t need a degree in behavioural and sense science to understand it and is made for anyone who wants to understand more about the human body, mind and our own sense experience with the world.

The book starts with waking up from slumber and leads you on throughout the day to experience it the best way you possibly could. From a gentle and effective wake up to dressing up for the day ahead, most effective way to exercise, work, wind down from the day and eventually leading you to a good nights sleep.

There’s also a great little sum up at the end of each chapter, to go over the main points in the paragraphs and further drive home the implementable takeaways.

There’s so much great advice in this book, many of which can be easily adopted in your daily life to really benefit your days. This is certainly a book to have on your bookshelf, to read, return to and reference when you need.

I couldn’t recommend reading this enough. So I advise you go get a cup of tea, throw on your favourite fluffy slippers and curl up on the sofa with a nice comfy cushion and begin your journey into seeing the world in a whole new different light!

The Power of Your Senses is a fascinating guide to how your senses operate and how the slight recalibration of a product can completely change the strength and type of feelings or reactions the stimuli evoke from our range of sensory functions. Many day to day objects we encounter can be viewed in a multisensory manner which means considering everything, including visuals, that affects our perception of a given quality, through another sense. By that I mean, choosing the shape of a can to make a deodorant seem more refreshing. The colour of a bottle that makes a drink tastier. It can also mean an aroma in a shop that makes people feel more relaxed and happy to browse. It could be the tschhh! in an advert that makes a drink seem more appealing. Or the clunk of a car indicator that reinforces how solid and powerful the vehicle seems. In this sense, true multisensory design is fundamentally grounded in science. Mainly focusing on an area of study called ‘cross-modal neuroscience’.

This is the science of how the senses and emotions are connected, through ‘cross-modal associations’. High pitch pianos are associated with sweet tastes. Heavy weight is associated with thickness and quality. If a logo faces right the brand is seen as forward-thinking. Scientists have been mapping these associations for decades. From Holt-Hansen linking frequencies of sound to Carlsberg Elephant beer on university campuses in the ‘60s. To modern-day superstars in the field like Charles Spence, Barry Smith, Carlos Velasco. Who, along with a host of other scientists and research agencies, have been systematically mapping textures with sounds, colours with shapes. Shapes with emotions. Smells with behaviour. Broadening our knowledge of how our senses and emotions work together. An insightful, unique and intriguing exploration of our senses and the power they hold. Highly recommended.