The ways in which the simple act of blinking changes how the brain works is a revelation

There are so many bodily functions in everyday life that seem insignificant but actually have a deeper purpose. One such thing is the reflex of blinking our eyes seemingly to protect them from irritating elements like dust and other foreign particles or to maintain the layer of moisture on our eyeballs. But what is the real reason that we blink so much? The researchers at the University of Rochester have found an answer.

Their research has revealed that each time we blink, the action is somewhat charging our brain and its ability to understand the world around us. This fascinating discovery was published in the reputed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research was led by Professor Michele Rucci from the university's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. “By modulating the visual input to the retina, blinks effectively reformat visual information, yielding luminance signals that differ drastically from those normally experienced when we look at a point in the scene,” Rucci explained in a statement.

The researchers employed advanced eye-tracking technology to monitor and analyze the eye movements of the study participants in real-time, according to a press release from the university. The results of the study revealed how blinking makes the eyes function better when we need to focus on something. So, blinking helps us see clearer images by boosting the ability of our eyes to process certain types of visual information. Blinking helps people reset the focus of their eyes to detect bigger and more gradual shifts in the field of vision that would have gone unnoticed otherwise.

“We show that human observers benefit from blink transients as predicted from the information conveyed by these transients," an author of the paper and graduate student BinYang explained. This experiment proved that how people see things isn't just about how the brain interprets what enters the field of vision but it's actually an active process where eyes work together with biochemical senses and movements to help us perceive one's surroundings. 

“Rapid and transient closure of the eyelids is the blink of an eye. It is very spontaneous, occurring regularly about 10-15 times a minute," Dr. E. Ravindra Mohan, a notable Indian ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon told The South First. He added that humans blink every four seconds and it is considered a spontaneous act in their regular life. He noted that the second type pf blink "Is the reflex blink. If we see someone coming at us or if something is thrown toward us, we tend to blink. This is an involuntary action — basically a protective blink — to protect our eyes."

“Any blink is a rapid and transient closure of an eyelid. We all know that blinking helps in tear resurfacing, and there has been a lot of discussion in the scientific literature and in the mass media regarding the increasing incidence of computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain about the importance of blinking and how blink rates have come down — when we look at devices — to even 50 percent of the normal rate,” he said describing the third type of blinking.

Dr. Mohan further explained that the brief moment when we blink and do not notice the absence of our vision is called perceptual constancy. He said, "The study shows that the blink ensures that there is a continuity of vision. The effect seems that there is a refreshing of the visual scene due to this perceptual constancy. Without the blink, the visual process would be far more inefficient and inadequate.”