That’s why we blink

Hervé Poirier, editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine Epsiloon, explains to us today that we have understood why we blink so much…

franceinfo: Explain to us Hervé, we believed that blinking was only necessary for the lubrication of the eyeball?

Hervé Poirier: The experience was carried out in an American laboratory. Volunteers look at images made up of very small oblique stripes, white and black, and say whether they seem inclined to the left or to the right. And they must blink, either during the observation or just before.

Result: their success increases significantly if the eyelids blink during observation, whether reflexively or voluntarily. Contrary to what we thought, blinking actually plays a role in the processing of visual information.

We close our eyes to see better, is that a bit contradictory?