Researchers observed that higher spontaneous blink rates correlated with improved rule-switching accuracy in young children performing card-sorting tasks. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy showed that these frequent blinks coincided with elevated activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The physiological link likely involves dopamine activity and attention systems, which are foundational to cognitive flexibility. However, authors emphasize that eye movements do not determine academic ability or overall intelligence.
Key points
Spontaneous blinking connects to dopamine pathways that regulate alertness, attention, an…: Spontaneous blinking connects to dopamine pathways that regulate alertness, attention, and executive brain function.
Non-invasive blink monitoring offers an accessible method to study early cognitive develo…: Non-invasive blink monitoring offers an accessible method to study early cognitive development without complicated testing procedures.
The observed correlation reflects specific mental rule flexibility rather than overall in…: The observed correlation reflects specific mental rule flexibility rather than overall intelligence, learning potential, or direct causation.
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A preschooler is shown a set of cards and asked to sort them by colour. Once the child gets used to the game, the instructions change: now the cards must be sorted by shape. A little later, the rules change again, and the child has to keep switching between the two.
For a young child, this is not as simple as it sounds. They have to stop following a rule they have just learnt, remember the new instruction and apply it correctly. This ability to adjust thinking when a situation changes is known as cognitive flexibility.
8 Oct 2026 | 14:25
What is the hardest part of raising a toddler that nobody prepared you for?
Now, researchers have found an unexpected association with this skill: how often a child naturally blinks.
A study published in Communications Psychology found that preschoolers who blinked more frequently tended to perform better when asked to switch between different sorting rules. The researchers also found a link between blink frequency and activity in a specific region of the brain involved in executive function.
Discovered at the ancient Anatolian settlement of Kanesh, an intact cuneiform tablet housed in Ankara preserves a domestic dispute regarding uncollected silver. A woman named Anna-anna wrote to her traveling merchant spouse, Ennum-Aššur, detailing the excuses of a debtor who refused to hand over payment directly to her. Because the clay casing was never breached, the correspondence likely never reached the husband, remaining unread until advanced imaging revealed its contents.
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Research led by the University of Colorado reveals that colonies inadvertently fertilize nearby snow algae by tracking guano across frozen landscapes. The nutrient influx causes these single-celled plants to generate green chlorophyll rather than red pigments, dramatically increasing solar heat absorption. This localized biological mechanism accelerates snowmelt in regions where native wildlife gathers.