Study: Blinking Gives the Brain a Little Break

New research from Japan's Osaka University finds that blinking may serve as a form of momentary rest for the brain, giving the mind a chance to wander. These brief breaks may last just a split second, or even a few seconds. The momentary rest that blinking appears to represent is a deliberate act and not just a response to an absence of stimuli.

Why do we spend roughly 10 percent of our waking hours with our eyes closed -- blinking far more often than is actually necessary to keep our eyeballs lubricated? Scientists have pried open the answer to this mystery, finding that the human brain uses that tiny moment of shut-eye to power down. The mental break can last anywhere from a split second to a few seconds before attention is fully restored, researchers from Japan's Osaka University found. During that time, scans that track the ebb and flow of blood within the brain revealed that regions associated with paying close attention momentarily go offline. And in the brief break in attention, brain regions collectively identified as the "Default Mode Network" power up.

Study: Blinking Gives the Brain a Little Break | Sci-Tech Today