The expression "sixth sense" is familiar to many and implies the ability to sense something that is usually inaccessible to other organs of touch.
Throwing mysticism aside, we can safely say that this is quite real. Scientists at the Duke's Center for Neuroengineering have successfully added a new sense of touch to lab rats. Thanks to the craniocerebral implant, animals have received opportunities that they did not have by nature.
Scientists have added to the rats the ability to detect infrared light that their eyes cannot pick up. An infrared detector was directly connected to the part of the brain that is responsible for touch.
At first, the rats were trained to press the luminous button to get water into the drinker. After the rats already knew that only the button that lights up gives water, the usual LEDs were replaced with infrared ones and the rats were able to "see" already the infrared glow and detected it accurately.
Scientists hope that in the future it will be possible to restore a person's ability to touch, if they have been lost due to injury or congenital disability.