It happens all the time, but you’d never notice it.
Scientists have discovered a new automatic eye movement, according to the American Optometric Association.
A team from the University of Tubingen (Germany) describes “a specific eye movement synchronized with blinking that helps the eye reset after twisting to view a rotating object,” the association reports on its website.
The movement “helps reduce eye strain as viewers assess their often dynamic environments.”
Lead author Mohammad Farhan Khazali said: “To discover such a ubiquitous phenomenon in such a well-studied part of the human body was astonishing to us, and we’re very grateful to the volunteers who took part in the study.”
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The research on “blink-associated resetting movement” was published in eLife, a biomedical journal.
A press release posted at eLife explains: “The movement they discovered helps to reset the eye after it twists when viewing a rotating object. It is like avoiding tiny rotations of a camera to stabilise the image we perceive. We don’t notice the eye resetting in this way because it happens automatically when we blink.”
Read more from the American Optometric Association
Read the press release
