In the center of our eyes are the pupils – the holes responsible for the passage of light from the external environment to the retina. They regulate the entry of light from our involuntary movements: the muscles of the iris decrease or increase the size of the pupil, depending on how much light is more or less in the environment.
We do not have direct control over the dilation or constriction of the pupil. But now a young man is making some researchers brainwash: he can voluntarily shrink and enlarge his pupils.
The 23-year-old is a psychology student at the University of Ulm in Germany, whose name has not been released. He was identified only by the initials of DW, and his status was mentioned Recently in the magazine International Journal of Physiological Psychology.
Until now, scientists know that some people can deliberately change the size of the pupil using indirect methods. For these people, just thinking about a very bright or very dark environment, for example, or making a great mental effort to focus will be enough to dilate or constrict the pupils.
But the DW case challenges what is known so far: It does not appear from the researchers’ findings that the young man is resorting to an indirect method of controlling the “girl by the eye.” DW realized he could change the size of his pupils when he was about 15 years old. He claims that he feels the muscles of the iris directly and that, to perform these movements, he only needs to focus on the eye – he does not perceive a dark or light environment, for example.
“Contracting the pupil is tantamount to grabbing, and pulling on something; making it bigger is like releasing it completely, which is relaxing to the eye,” DW told the team of scientists who investigated the case.
And a series of tests, using pupil and myometry techniques, were conducted to investigate the indirect mechanisms that could mediate this phenomenon, according to write researchers.
One test, for example, consists of measuring electrical activity of the skin Student – a characteristic of the human body that causes continuous changes in the electrical properties of the skin. In this test it will be possible to find out if DW, while controlling his pupils, is subject to intense mental effort. But this was not true.
The researchers confirmed that the student did indeed possess the ability to control pupils, and they found no indication that he was using any of the known indirect methods.
By observing and investigating this rare condition, scientists believe it is possible to direct voluntary control of the pupil muscles.
Christoph Strauch, senior author of the study, He said at the gate Live Science which perhaps others can learn to do so.
Now, finding and studying more individuals with this ability could help researchers understand the phenomenon and see if there really are techniques to control pupil size at will.
“Some people contacted me [com a equipe] And they think they can do the same — that’s really cool,” He said shrub.
And you, reader, can you control your pupils?
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