Abstract
The ability to read emotions from faces is a very important skill. One might even call it a superpower. People around the world use this skill when they communicate with each other. But do people from different cultural backgrounds recognize and interpret facial expressions the same way? The answer, according to scientists, is both yes and no. Yes, because the brain system specializing in understanding faces is similar across cultures, so we all can recognize basic emotions, such as happiness or sadness, when looking at other faces. No, because culture influences how we behave and how we think, which means it also influences the rules we learn as children that tell us when and how to show our emotions. In this article, we discuss how we are able to read emotions from faces and how we might be reading emotions differently, depending on where we are from.
Highlights
Imagine if I told you that you could have a superpower that would allow you to know something very personal about other people—their feelings
The fusiform gyrus is located at the bottom of the brain and stretches throughout almost 2/3 of the length of the brain
The fusiform face area is part of the fusiform gyrus, and this region is important for understanding faces
Summary
The ability to read emotions from faces is a very important skill. People around the world use this skill when they communicate with each other. Do people from different cultural backgrounds recognize and interpret facial expressions the same way? Because the brain system specializing in understanding faces is similar across cultures, so we all can recognize basic emotions, such as happiness or sadness, when looking at other faces. Because culture influences how we behave and how we think, which means it influences the rules we learn as children that tell us when and how to show our emotions. We discuss how we are able to read emotions from faces and how we might be reading emotions differently, depending on where we are from
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