Every moment of every day you are bombarded by sensory data, via the senses (external = perception) and internal information via sensations called interoception. The brain interprets this information and assesses or understands it based on past experience.

“All sensory information is a massive, constantly changing puzzle for your brain to solve. The objects you see, the sounds you hear, the odors you smell, the touches you feel, the flavors you taste, and the interoceptive sensations you experience as aches and pains and affect . . . they all involve continuous sensory signals that are highly variable and ambiguous as they reach your brain. Your brain’s job is to predict them before they arrive, fill in missing details, and find regularities where possible, so that you experience a world of objects, people, music, and events, not the “blooming, buzzing confusion” that is really out there.” – Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD and Professor of Psychology.