New Delhi: Blinking, often considered a reflexive action to keep our eyes moist, may serve a more significant purpose, suggests recent research. According to the study, blinking plays a role in helping us perceive big, gradually changing patterns in our visual environment.
Led by Michele Rucci, a professor at the University of Rochester, US, the research indicates that blinking alters the visual input to the retina, effectively reformatting the visual information being processed by the brain.
“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,” explained Rucci, the corresponding author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers tracked eye movements in humans and used computer models to study how blinking affects visual perception compared to when the eyes are closed. They discovered that the rapid movement of the eyelids during blinking changes the light patterns that activate the retina, providing the brain with different types of visual information to process.
“We show that human observers benefit from blink transients as predicted from the information conveyed by these transients,” said Bin Yang, the study’s first author and a graduate student in Rucci’s lab. “Thus, contrary to common assumption, blinks improve — rather than disrupt — visual processing, amply compensating for the loss in stimulus exposure,” Yang added.
This research challenges the conventional belief that blinks disrupt visual perception and highlights the importance of blinking in enhancing our ability to perceive and interpret visual information.
Read Now :Science Confirms: Hugs Are Indeed Good for both physical and mental health across all age groups
