Researchers at Western University have shown that our brains are pre-wired to perceive wrinkles around the eyes as conveying more intense and more sincere emotions. This eye-wrinkle feature, called the Duchenne marker, occurs across multiple facial expressions, including smiles, expressions associated with pain, and—as found by these researchers—expressions of sadness.
Researchers at Western University have shown that our brains are pre-wired to perceive wrinkles around the eyes as conveying more intense and more sincere emotions. This eye-wrinkle feature, called the Duchenne marker, occurs across multiple facial expressions, including smiles, expressions associated with pain, and—as found by these researchers—expressions of sadness.
Using a method called visual rivalry, the researchers showed study participants photos of expressions with and without the Duchenne marker to study which of the expressions our brains perceive as more important. When different images are shown in each eye, the brain alternates between these two images, but will bring the image that is perceived as more relevant into perceptual awareness more often.
Principal investigator on the study, Dr. Julio Martinez-Trujillo, a professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry says visual rivalry is like a window into the unconscious, and demonstrates what our brains involuntarily see as more relevant or important.
“The expressions involving the Duchenne marker were always dominant. So if the emotion is more intense, your brain actually prefers to bring it into perceptual awareness for longer time,” said Martinez-Trujillo.
Read more at University of Western Ontario
Image: The photo on the right of researcher Julio Martinez-Trujillo includes wrinkles around they eyes - a feature called the Duchenne marker - that researchers have found to make emotions appear more sincere. (Credit: University of Western Ontario)
