By Stephen Beech
People blink to the beat of their favorite tunes – without even realizing it, reveals a new study.
Chinese scientists discovered that when we listen to music, we unconsciously open and close our eyes along to the rhythm.
Given a steady beat, they say our eyes blink in synchrony.
Study leader Professor Yi Du, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, explained that the neurological process that helps us move with the music is known as auditory-motor synchronization.
Du says that describes the way you tap your foot along with the radio or bob your head at a concert, or why some runners listen to songs with a specific number of beats per minute to keep pace.
But the new study found that we don’t just respond to music with gestures we can choose to start or stop.
Some of our most involuntary movements are affected as well, according to the findings published in the journal PLOS Biology.
The Chinese research team measured spontaneous blinks, the ones our eyes do without us usually even noticing, in more than 100 participants.
The team played the participants Western classical music, selecting songs that provided an even tempo.
Not only did the participants’ blinks begin to sync up with the music, but their brainwaves also aligned.
The research team played the tunes backwards to be sure the participants weren’t responding to other familiar musical cues, and the participants blinked in time regardless.
The team also played participants’ beats mimicking the pace of the music, but at a single tone.
Participants seemed to blink in rhythm slightly worse with real music, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Du says the only factor that disrupted the synchronization was when the researchers gave the participants an unrelated task.
While the music played, the participants had to wait for a red dot to appear on the screen in front of them.
Originally, the researchers had suspected that if the dot appeared in-beat with the music, the participants would notice it faster, but regardless of when the dot appeared in relation to the music, participants’ blinking was no longer matching up with the song.
The finding surprised the research team, and Du says it demonstrated that even if we’re not aware of it, the response requires us to focus on the music.
Du said: “We found that people’s spontaneous eye blinks fall in step with the musical beat – even without being told to move, revealing a hidden link between hearing music and the oculomotor system.
“Because blinks are effortless to measure, this behavior offers a simple, implicit window into how we process rhythm – and could one day support clinical screening for rhythm-related difficulties.
“What surprised us most was how reliably a ‘small-movement’ like blinking locks to the beat – it’s a tiny action that reveals a deep coordination between hearing and action, which we did not expect at all.”
The participants in the study were not musicians, so the synchronised blinks are not a product of musical training or ability.
Du says studying such phenomena can help us understand how pathways in the brain connect and how different senses and brain functions interact.
She says some evidence also indicates that certain neurological conditions affecting body movement can be treated with music therapies that engage auditory-motor synchronization.
Du added: “I loved that a simple, non-invasive signal – blinks – can act as a window into rhythm processing.
“It opens doors for studies outside the lab.
“As someone who studies rhythm and prediction, I was struck that the eyes keep time with the ears – it’s an elegant, everyday signature of the brain’s timing mechanisms.
“This project reminded us that small, overlooked behaviours can expose big principles of brain function.”
