Editing Blinking (section)

{{short description|Rapid closing and opening of the eyelid}}
{{Use dmy|date=May 2023}}
{{Redirect|Blink}}
[[File:Eye opening and closing.gif|thumb|{{center|{{PAGENAME}}}}]]

'''Blinking''' is a bodily function; it is a [[autonomic nervous system|semi-autonomic]] rapid closing of the [[eyelid]].<ref name="d.umn.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.d.umn.edu/~jfitzake/Lectures/DMED/Vision/Optics/Blinking.html|title=Blinking}}</ref> A single blink is determined by the forceful closing of the eyelid or inactivation of the [[levator palpebrae superioris]] and the activation of the palpebral portion of the [[orbicularis oculi]], not the full open and close.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} It is an essential function of the [[eye]] that helps spread [[tears]] across and remove irritants from the surface of the [[cornea]] and [[conjunctiva]].

Blinking may have other functions since it occurs more often than necessary just to keep the eye lubricated. Researchers think{{weasel inline|date=January 2025}} blinking may help with disengagement of attention; following blink onset, cortical activity decreases in the dorsal network and increases in the default-mode network, associated with internal processing.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.1214804110 |pmid=23267078 |pmc=3545766 |jstor=42553853 |title=Blink-related momentary activation of the default mode network while viewing videos |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=702–6 |year=2012 |last1=Nakano |first1=T. |last2=Kato |first2=M. |last3=Morito |first3=Y. |last4=Itoi |first4=S. |last5=Kitazawa |first5=S. |bibcode=2013PNAS..110..702N |doi-access=free }}</ref> Blink speed can be affected by elements such as fatigue, eye injury, medication, and disease. The blinking rate is determined by the "blinking center", but it can also be affected by external stimulus.

Some animals, such as [[tortoise]]s and [[hamster]]s, blink their eyes independently of each other. Humans use [[wink]]ing, the blinking of only one eye, as a form of [[body language]].