Blinking Can Enhance Your Vision, Unnoticed Until Now

Blinking occurs naturally every few seconds, often unnoticed, unless you’re in an intense staring contest. As you hold back from blinking, tears may form, but when you finally blink, it provides immediate relief as your eyes are moisturized.

Blinking does more than just moisten the eyes; it also improves vision, according to a recent study. Researchers are delving into the purpose of blinking, given that we blink more frequently than needed for eye lubrication.

“We found that blinking boosts retinal stimulation, enhancing visibility even when we lose sight for a brief moment,” writes University of Rochester neuroscientist Bin Yang and his team in their published study.

Previous Research on Blinking’s Functions

Previous studies have indicated that blinking helps refresh attention, aids in object recognition, and organizes continuous visual and auditory data into manageable segments for the brain.

Despite the momentary blackout of around 300 milliseconds during each blink, which we often don’t perceive, this interruption might not necessarily disrupt visual neuron activity in a negative manner.

Interestingly, a 2016 study revealed that neural activity dips when eyelids close but surges higher immediately after a blink, potentially improving vision.

Building on these insights, Yang and his team used high-resolution eye-tracking in their latest research to examine how blinking impacts vision in 12 participants viewing images with varying contrasts on a screen.

The researchers tracked one eye per participant while also measuring the brightness, or luminance, of the visual stimuli presented to them.

Compared to moments when participants focused on the screen, blinking enhanced the visual signal strength by adjusting the light intensity reaching the retina.

Impact of Blinking on Visual Sensitivity

This visual enhancement occurred whether participants blinked on command or reflexively. Contrary to previous studies suggesting only genuine blinks improved attention, simulated changes in luminosity akin to a blink also briefly heightened vision.

“Rather than hindering visual processing as commonly thought, blinks actually enhance sensitivity,” Yang and his team state.

Additionally, the team discovered that blinks reorganize visual data. Similar to unnoticed eye movements like rapid saccades and subtle drifts, blinks refine vision by adding spatial markers and timestamps to our visual experience.

Considering we close our eyes due to blinking approximately 10% of our waking hours, it’s reassuring to learn that it serves a beneficial purpose.

Read the original article on: Science Alert

Read more: Scientists Aid in Uncovering the Neural Mechanisms of Vision