Blinking Eyes

According to scientists, the average person blinks 15 to 20 times per minute. That's 1,200 times an hour and up to 28,800 times a day—far more than we need to lubricate our pupils. In fact, we spend about 10 percent of our waking hours with our eyes closed.

So why do we blink so much?

According to new research from Osaka University in Japan, blinking can serve as some kind of relaxation for the brain, giving the mind a chance to wander and "go offline". These little pauses can last only for a few seconds or a few seconds.

When our brains are not focused on a task, brain regions known as "default mode networks" are involved, allowing our brains to switch to passive mode.

According to new research, blinking and brain relaxation go hand in hand. To understand this phenomenon, the scientists monitored the brain activity of 20 healthy subjects in a brain scanner, and watched some comedy videos, the researchers found that at the points where there was a natural pause in the video, two things happened: There was a spontaneous blink, and scans showed a decline in areas of the brain that control focus. For that fleeting moment, the default mode network for a dormant brain stepped in.

While our conscious brains can't even detect stops, momentary lapses can provide an awakening relief—though perhaps only for a fraction of a second. This new research could help scientists understand the connection between lying and blinking patterns – it is possible that lying is an attention-seeking activity, so people blink less during deception.