sensations definition
Sensation (psychology) Sensation is the body's detection of external or internal stimulation (e.g., eyes detecting light waves, ears detecting sound waves). Perception utilizes the brain to make sense of the stimulation (e.g., seeing a chair, hearing a guitar). Sensation involves three steps: 1  Sensory receptors detect stimuli. 2  Sensory stimuli are transduced into electrical impulses (action potentials) to be decoded by the brain. 3  Electrical impulses move along neural pathways to specific parts of the brain wherein the impulses are decoded into useful information (perception).