Scientists reveal a bizarre sign that youve got a well-behaved toddler
Children who blink more, think more. Researchers found that spontaneous and rapid eye-blinking is a sign of higher performance on cognitive flexibility tasks in children aged 3-6. The association is linked to brain activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dIPFC), which controls executive functioning for planning and focus. Spontaneous eye-blink rate (sEBR) is a dopamine marker in children and was found to correlate with high executive functioning in preschool-aged children when performing the study. Researchers recruited 113 children from Japan, aged 3-6, to participate in a classic cognitive flexibility test: a card-sorting game where the rules change partway through from sorting by color to sorting by shape. This task measures how well a child can drop one way of thinking and pick up another, a major building block for impulse control. Researchers used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging, a non-invasive optical technique that uses near-infrared light to measure blood oxygen levels and activity in the brain, to see when the area was activated.They found that there was more activity in the dIPFC, a key region known to support the ability to switch rules. Scientists looked at brain activity using fNIRS and simultaneously recorded children’s spontaneous eye-blink rate using ordinary video cameras.
The light-based brain imaging technique shines light through the scalp to measure blood flow changes in the brain. The scientists found that spontaneous blinking occurs in the same window as the higher brain activity in the dIPFC. Spontaneous eye-blinking occurs outside of conscious awareness and is influenced by brain neuromodulatory systems — in this case, dopamine signaling to the brain.People with Parkinson’s disease, which involves disrupted dopamine signaling, tend to blink far less often and also struggle with switching between tasks.Results showed that children who blinked more performed better in the card game.
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