A new study finds that our pupils mysteriously dilate and contract with each breath, suggesting a deeper connection between vision and breathing.
Our eyes, the so-called windows to the soul, can reveal a lot about us, including possible early signs of hearing loss.
But even more intriguing, new research from Sweden and the Netherlands shows that our pupils fluctuate with every breath, writes Science Alert.
We have known for more than a century that pupils do not react only to light.
However, the question of whether they change size with each breath produced mixed results.
Some research has shown that pupils dilate during inhalation, but a 2022 analysis found inconclusive evidence for this phenomenon.
Neuroscientist Martin Schaefer from the Karolinska Institute and his team attempted to explain these findings.
Using a special camera, they measured the pupil size of more than 100 volunteers, both at rest and during a visual task.
Pupil size consistently reached its minimum around the start of inhalation and its maximum during exhalation, say the authors of the new study, which is awaiting peer review.
This consistent pattern emerged regardless of whether the volunteers performed a visual task or focused on a single point, and whether they breathed through their nose or mouth.
This contradicts previous claims that the pupils are smaller during exhalation.
It took several breathing cycles to detect these subtle changes, which could potentially explain the contradictory results of the past.
Scientists assume that smaller pupils are more useful for distinguishing details, while larger ones detect faint stimuli.
Understanding student behavior can improve their use as diagnostic indicators of levels of consciousness and mental health conditions. /Shqip.com
edition
t7 live
