The blink flurry, aka the eyelid flutter, a rapid succession of three or more blinks, has been connected to a high cognitive or emotional load and deception. This article summarises the scientific and anecdotal evidence, shedding light on this intriguing yet common behaviour.

In this post, we seek to discover the truth, reading the body language of the Skripal poisoning suspects–Russian spies, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. Are they lying about their true identity?

Last week I was asked to analyse Donald Trump's body language during his response to the Orlando massacre. I've decided to share my findings in this blog post. There are a few signals that are definitely worth a mention- 'duper's delight', tongue jut, increased blink rate and one sided shoulder shrug. These are very interesting cues and can, if combined with other cues, raise a red flag in deception detection. I'll explain these later.

These two nonverbal cues can be seen in video footage of Adeel Khan, who today, was found guilty of deliberately setting the convenience store alight and murdering the man who lived upstairs. Khan pleaded not guilty to all charges. In this video, (at approx. 45 seconds) Khan's blink rate increases to 100 blinks per minute, in response to the question, "Mr Khan, I'll ask you, did you burn down the property?". There's a clear distinction between blink rate before and after the question. 

Another form of eye blocking is blinking. In stressful situations- when faced with something we don't like, our blink rate increases. This is another nonverbal cue that often goes unnoticed. And although not in itself an indicator of deception, an increased blink rate is often seen in people when they lie. 

In the video below, Lisa Wilkinson, from Australia's Today show exhibits an increased blink rate as she responds to co-host, Karl Stefanovic's accusation of her having double standards. As you can see, she blinks fairly rapidly during her response, indicating stress. Her blink rate has increased to a whopping 105 blinks per minute, from her average blink rate of 36 blinks per minutes, when presenting under less challenging circumstances.