Physiology & the Orange As I tune in to "my orange," I find that it is difficult to separate the sensory input that I am experiencing. My mind seems to put integration on automatic pilot. Before I close my eyes, I find my visual sense to be dominant. I know that I tend to be a visually-oriented person anyway, so this is not really a surprise. But in my attempts to deal with each sensation separately, it is readily apparent that vision stays in the forefront of my awareness. I know from my reading that the brainstem receives information from my eyes and ears and then sends the sensations along to the midbrain.

Once I close my eyes, it becomes easier to focus on the sensations that my fingers and hands are generating as I manipulate the orange. I am aware of the heft and roundness of the fruit, and the texture of the skin seems amplified when I cannot see the surface of the orange. From my reading, I remember that the diencephalon (where the thalamus and the hypothalamus are located) and the telencephalon (where the cerebrum is located) areas of the brain are responsible for transmitting...

As I tear the peel of the orange, I hear it give way, and I feel the small drops of oil make contact with my skin. Remembering my reading, I open my mouth to increase my ability to smell the orange and I am instantly aware of the rich citrusy aroma that is inherent to the orange oil. I know from my reading that my olfactory bulb is responsible for communicating the delightful aroma surrounding me to the limbic area in my brain. I am a bit astonished at how quickly the process of transmitting olfactory information occurs, although the process seems a bit slower than does my brains processing of visual information.
My mind drifts to the city of Florence, Italy, where I encountered blossoming orange trees lining the streets -- and I remember thinking that this backdrop could surely cause someone to fall in love forever --…