A variety of drugs can cause this, some prescription and some not. When your pupils get smaller it’s called miosis. Sometimes it’s assumed someone’s pupils dilating after smoking marijuana may be due to other factors, but also, our bodies have enough differences that it is hard to pin down. It can happen, but really, there’s no definitive answer for how or why. Studies don’t show a lot of data to indicate someone smoking or ingesting marijuana will definitely have dilated pupils. It’s a little more complicated for marijuana. LSD causes “hyperarousal of the nervous system,” which of course then causes the pupils to dilate since they’re controlled by your nervous system. As meth enters your system your brain releases dopamine which triggers a “reward” response in you, including dilated pupils. įor methamphetamines your body is reacting to dopamine, also called the “reward” chemical in your brain. The most common drugs that can cause eyes to dilate are:Īll of these drugs will have some sort of effect on your nervous system, but in the case of cocaine, your pupils dilate due to your brain’s reaction to norepinephrine. It won’t always, depending on the substance. When a drug or substance that affects your nervous system is introduced into your body it has a chance of affecting your eyes. You can maybe already see how some related drugs affect eye pupil size when you know your eyes’ dilation is controlled by your nervous system. It’s controlled by your parasympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of making sure your body stays in “stable condition.” Your body’s method for constricting your pupils is a muscle around your eyeball called the iris sphincter.
The external stimulator of a drug or substance affects how our eyes behave, so let’s look at how that happens. The third reason for dilation, a response to an outside or internal stimulus, is where our interest lies here. That is an incredibly simplified version of how it works, however. They’re somewhat like a camera lens (just far more complex, obviously) so the function of getting smaller is almost like your eye is zooming in. Similarly, our pupils will get smaller to help us see things that are closer to us. This means when your pupils are getting wider due to light it will only be because they have already constricted.Īnd why do our pupils get smaller in response to light? It’s because our eyes are controlling the amount of light entering our eyes, protecting us from receiving too much. One thing Mathôt specifies that may seem strange is that our pupils will only constrict, meaning get smaller, when responding to light. Both can happen in response to certain drugs and substances entering a body, but let’s focus on dilating for now.Īccording to a study by Sebastiaan Mathôt about how our eyes work, pupils dilate in response to three things: when the level of light changes, when we need to focus on an object that is closer to us, and when our bodies are responding to either outside or internal stimulus. When a pupil gets smaller it is called miosis. The scientific term for pupils dilating is mydriasis. Their pupils were massive!”Ī lot of people have questions about why specific drugs or substances cause eyes to dilate, so in order to better understand that let’s first look at how eyes dilate in general. Specifically though, why do certain drugs and substances cause eyes to dilate? Maybe you’ve heard someone say “Did you see that person’s eyes? They were definitely tripping,” or even “That person is majorly high right now. There are a lot of reasons why a person’s eyes will dilate, such as being happy, walking into a room and turning the light off or, potentially, even talking to someone you like or love. It’s a natural thing, something your body needs to stay healthy in a number of ways. Your eyes are always dilating and constricting (getting smaller) all throughout the day. Whether we’re consciously aware of it or not, when someone’s eyes are dilated we may take notice. We look people in the eye out of a natural desire to know them, to listen, and to experience their lives. How are you going to face your friends, or what if your teacher notices and calls your mom?!ĭilated pupils can certainly bring a lot of unintended consequences along with them, including ideas other people have about what they mean. There has to be some way to stop your eyes from looking like this! Did you make a horrible decision? Oh god this is going to be bad. If only you had some sunglasses or some eye drops. They’ll look into your eyes and not because they’re searching for anything, but because that’s where our minds can be glimpsed, if only for a moment. The mirror tells a story as you look into it, one you know everyone is going to read the second you step outside.
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