Scientists look into the face of fear and reveal the foundations of hypocrisy
Why do our eyebrows rise in horror and our eyes widen at the sight of danger? Is there any physiological meaning to the manifestation of emotions? Scientists tried to answer this question, and at the same time found out that the number of facial muscles in many people is different. Perhaps the names of this feature helped many of us make friends, and some — subtly hypocrisy.
The formulation of the question, of course, is not new: the evolutionary background of emotions was suggested even by Darwin himself. We recall that he tried to analyze this problem in the work “Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals”, where the identity of facial expressions was described when reacting to certain situations in people from all over the world and even in some animals. The founder of the theory of natural selection believed that a person’s facial expression should be functional, for example, provide a better «picture» when meeting with the enemy.
However, his hypothesis has so far remained unconfirmed, and many scientists adhered to the point of view according to which the external manifestation of emotions was mainly due to social factors. Cognitive scientists Adam Anderson and Joshua Susskind of the University of Toronto set out to test an old idea with new technologies. The study report was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The Canadians reproduced a computer-generated version of the standard grimace of fear (brows raised, eyes bulging, nostrils flaring) and expressions of disgust (wrinkled nose, upturned lip, and narrowed eyes).
During the experiment, a group of volunteers were asked to reproduce facial expressions corresponding to the built models — these data were recorded on a camera and compared with measurements in the simulator. The results showed that the expression of emotions serves not only to transmit a conditioned signal to the enemy or relatives, but also has an important physiological significance. In particular, it was possible to establish that a frightened look is accompanied by an improvement in peripheral vision, an increase in the frequency of eyelid movement and breathing — all this allows a person to respond faster to danger. A grimace of disgust, on the contrary, entails a restriction of the viewing angle and suppression of breathing — this minimizes possible negative effects on the eyes or the ingress of harmful substances into the lungs. According to Anderson, until now, researchers have focused only on the communicative function of facial expressions, but not on the biological and evolutionary ones. “On the one hand, it looks obvious, but on the other hand, no one has yet been able to obtain experimental evidence,” confirms neuroscientist Kevin Ochsner from Columbia University (Columbia University). However, skeptics do not consider the «individual» interpretation of the mechanism of facial expressions to be complete.
The ability to transmit danger signals to relatives and coordinate their actions was no less important selection criterion in the evolution of our species than self-defense in critical situations — another study conducted by a group of British and American scientists is devoted to this topic. According to his results, which were published in the Journal of the American Psychological Association (APA), each person’s expression of emotions can be unique. Evolutionary psychologist Bridget Waller of the University of Portsmouth and her colleagues in the US, human anatomy experts, conducted a study of facial muscle contractions by dissecting 18 white American cadavers. The results showed that there are unconditional common features, but there are also differences.
Every person has the same set of five “emotional” muscles that are responsible for the six basic feelings: fear, disgust, anger, happiness, surprise, and sadness. But there are 11 more types of muscles that some people have and others do not. Not all of them are universal or equally used by people, even within the same racial group. For example, the muscle of laughter (Musculus risorius) was found in only two-thirds of the studied remains.
”Some facial expressions are actually unique,” says a British psychologist. “This makes the reaction to stimuli understandable to those whom a person knows personally — friends and relatives.” According to Dr. Waller, signals about emotions important for the entire population were transmitted in a universally accessible mode — through five basic facial muscles, and the remaining 11 served to establish social ties within the group or family relationships. Bridget adds that many people subconsciously copy each other’s emotions without experiencing the corresponding sensory shocks themselves. This is how the observed differences, including even anatomical ones, could have arisen. In general, in addition to the physiological basis of facial expressions, there is probably also a cultural one, and the research results do not contradict each other, but are manifestations of two intertwining branches of evolution — biological and younger social.