Table of contents:
- Blinking suppresses an area of the brain that involves vision
- Then when blinking, why don't the eyes feel dark?
Blinking is a normal thing and must be experienced by all humans. However, have you ever noticed every time your eyes blink? Although the average person blinks 15 to 20 times per minute, many people do not realize, let alone count them. So, why do so many people not fully notice when they blink?
Blinking suppresses an area of the brain that involves vision
Once every five seconds, your eyes will close rapidly to retain moisture. Apart from keeping the eyes moisturized, blinking also helps clean particles that land on the eyes to keep them clean. This is done on reflex without the need for great effort to do it. In fact, many people don't even realize that he blinks hundreds of times in just a matter of hours.
According to Christopher Frith, a lecturer in neuropsychology at University College London, when blinking, activity in the area of the brain that regulates visual sensitivity is momentarily muted. Reducing the activity of the brain in this area makes the nerves prevent the brain from realizing that the eyelid has closed the pupil. Because of this, you become unconscious when your eyes blink.
New research from Osaka University in Japan finds that blinking also acts as a form of short rest for the brain. These short breaks can last a fraction of a second or a few seconds.
Then when blinking, why don't the eyes feel dark?
When the eye blinks, no light falls on the retina. However, this does not necessarily lead to darkness in the retina. When blinking you can still observe your surroundings without missing a single incident. Then your vision continues to run as it should without the slightest distraction just from blinking.
According to Caspar Schwiedrzik, lead author of the study, the brain region of the medial prefrontal cortex, which plays an important role in short-term memory, is thought to have played a part in this. This part of the brain is able to store visual information when the eye blinks.
When a person blinks, what they see is held back by the brain and visually connected to what they see when the eyelids reopen. This information is then gathered so that you can see everything in front of you, even when blinking. Even though it closes for a split second, the eye has indeed been designed to stay focused on what was seen before.
In essence, you often become unconscious when you blink because the blinking happens very quickly. In addition, the brain has regulated the work of the nerves so that you are not aware of every blink.
