1. Most of Your Memories Are Due to Your Eyes

One of the facts about your eyes you are surely aware of is that they are the most important organs that allow you to perceive the world around you. But we depend on our sight much more than you would think. It seems that only 20% of what we perceive comes through our other senses – the huge majority is due to our eyes. And, thus, our memories are actually 80% imagery.

2. You Can’t Escape Reading Glasses as You Get Older

Even if you have perfect distance vision, at some point in your future (after the age of 40), you will have trouble reading without a little outside help. This is because, as you get older, your eye lens gradually loses its ability to focus. More precisely, in order to be able to focus on an object up close, it has to change its shape to a more spherical one – and this gets harder as you age, because the lens becomes stiffer.

3. If You Have Blue Eyes, You’re Related to Brad Pitt

Wait, what? Let me explain. A team of scientists at the University of Copenhagen has tracked down a genetic mutation that happened 6-10 thousand years ago and that seems to be responsible for the appearance of all blue-eyed humans. Originally, all humans had brown eyes. While the variation from brown to green eyes can be explained by a change of melanin production in the iris, in blue-eyed people, this melanin variation is actually very small and, thus, doesn’t explain the color. To keep it short, it seems they have all inherited the same mutation at the exact same spot in their DNA as the first blue-eyed human. So, if you have blue eyes, you share a single, common ancestor with all other blue-eyed individuals – including Brad Pitt! Be sure to let him know you’re distant cousins if you bump into him!

4. Your Eyes, Even if Healthy, Have a Blind Spot

Human eyes have a blind spot on a small section of the retina because the optic nerve (which carries all the information back into our brain) blocks it. It’s like having an USB port in the middle of your PC screen. Usually, your other eye will cover for its partner’s blind spot, but, even if this doesn’t happen, your brain will just "connect the dots" according to the surrounding image.

5. They Are Fully Developed by the Time You’re 7 Years Old

By the age of 7, a child’s eyes are physiologically the same as an adults’. That’s why it is essential to pick up a lazy eye while you’re still little. Since, before the age of 7, your eyes are still developing, they have a considerably better chance to improve.

6. Your Eyes Can Help You Tell if You Have Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes often has no visible symptoms, so many suffer from it without even knowing it. However, a simple eye test may detect this condition, as it can show tiny hemorrhages at the back of your eye – which are often a sign of diabetes. So, you have one more reason to get your eyes checked regularly.

7. Your Eye Muscles Are Chuck Norris

Out of all the muscles in your body, your eye muscles happen to be the most active ones, as they are constantly moving to readjust the position and focus of your eyes. During an hour of reading, your eyes, thanks to their sturdy little helpers, will make 10,000 coordinated movements! What’s more, eye muscles are considered to be among the strongest in your body, some even saying they are 100 times stronger than they would actually need to be (though this may be debatable).

As you can see, there’s so much more to your eyes than meets the… eye. Do you know any other fun or interesting facts about this awesome organ?