We all blink 15–20 times a minute. There are several reasons for this. One is so our eyes do not dry out. Another reason is to protect our eyes from dust. Scientists say they found a further reason. They say we blink less when we are listening to someone speak. Blinking less gives our brain more energy, so we can focus on listening.

The researchers did two experiments. In one, people listened to many sentences being read in a quiet room. In the other, there was background noise. The people in the room with background noise blinked a lot less. Another researcher explained that we blink less "when important information is coming".