7 Curious Facts About Our Pupils

The eyes are said to be the mirror of the soul, as they reflect our feelings and emotions. The pupils are capable of expanding like a flower, like a small universe where very interesting secrets are hidden. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how many things our pupils can say?

Today in our space we want to invite you on a curious and exciting walk into our eyes, towards that dark, magical and disturbing point that are the pupils.

As you already know, this part of the eye is responsible for regulating the amount of light that enters the eyeball  but, apart from this, it actually hides many more secrets. Discover them with us. We are sure that you will find them very interesting.

1. Optography

Optography is not a very well known term today. However, in the 19th century there was a time when it was quite common to hear this word. It made reference to the discipline developed by the physiologist Wilhelm Friedrich Kühne in 1881, and whose purpose was to analyze the pupils of people who had died and were murdered.

It was thought that the image of the murderer could have been “imprinted” in the pupils as a photograph, hence numerous investigations were carried out at the microscopic and photography level in order to find out if this premise, if this suspicion, could be true.

It is even known that during the Jack the Ripper murders the pupils of some of his victims were analyzed but, unfortunately, no clear conclusion was reached. In fact, today, optography falls within the paranormal sciences.

2. Our pupils and emotions

It is known that strong emotions such as joy, excitement or sexual desire garishly dilate the pupils. For example, studies confirm the relationship between sexual inclination and pupil dilation.

3. Try to solve a complex problem

When we are immersed in a problem or in a situation that requires high mental concentration, it could happen that our pupils dilate, even though specialists do not list it as a common cause of dilation.

However, it could occur, especially if stress or anxiety is added to the difficulty of the task, a state in which emotions are added on the one hand and cognitive saturation on the other.

4. The repulsion

It is a natural and instinctive reaction. Human beings feel an almost immediate repulsion to certain things: to an unpleasant smell, to dead or decomposing matter, and even to stimuli that we consider unpleasant, such as violence.

All these experiences also affect our pupils, dilating them, as confirmed by this study in which negative and neutral images were shown to people and the reaction of their pupils was analyzed. Have you ever noticed? It is an impact in which emotions are also mixed with a natural physiological reaction of rejection and need to flee.

5. Pain and our pupils

Surely you already guessed this data. Our autonomic nervous system is known to react to the sensation of pain and activate our senses for escape. One of the first reactions of our body to pain is the dilation of the pupils, studies confirm.

Do you know why this happens? Faced with the need to flee, our brain needs all the senses to be at their best. Thus, your eyesight must be 100% sharpened to be able to detect any potential hazards in the environment. Curious, isn’t it?

6. The pupils and chemical agents in our environment

We cannot ignore that our eyes, and consequently, our pupils, are very sensitive to all the chemical agents present in our atmosphere. So, for example, if one day as soon as you wake up you notice that your pupils are constantly dilated, you should see a doctor immediately.

Among other causes, dilated pupils (as well as a decrease in size, called miosis) can also be due to the following :

• Poisons or other chemical agents to which we can be allergic.
• Certain drugs or opiates also tend to cause this reaction and, as we say, it is an indicator to go immediately to the doctor.

7. Neurological diseases

This information is very important. If after hitting yourself, you or a family member notice that your pupils are dilated, it is also vital that you seek medical help immediately. There may be internal bleeding or any other neurological problem that affects the state of the pupils requires rapid intervention.

Sometimes dilated pupils are also a sign of a possible brain tumor or brain edema. In this case, as we say, it is a characteristic that must be permanent. The dilation of the pupil is constant and does not contract despite applying direct light to the eyes.

As you have seen, the pupils are not just a reflection of our emotions. They are also an indicator of our health, whose characteristics are worth knowing for our own safety.