Relating to or denoting the sensory receptors or senses that perceive stimuli from outside the body, such as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
From extero- (Latin externus, 'external') + ceptive (from Latin capere, 'to take or receive'). Coined in early 20th-century neuroscience to distinguish external from internal sensation.
Your five classic senses are exteroceptive because they detect the external world, but you also have proprioceptive senses that detect your body's position and interoceptive senses that feel your heartbeat or hunger—neuroscience maps sensation into three systems.
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