Previous research indicates that women are better at recognizing facial expressions than men. In the current study, we examined whether this female advantage in the processing of facial expressions also occurs at the unconscious level. In two studies, participants performed a simple detection task and a 4-AFC task while faces were rendered invisible by continuous flash suppression. When faces with full intensity expressions were suppressed, there was no significant sex difference in the time of breakup of suppression (Study 1). However, when suppressed faces depicted low intensity expressions, suppression broke up earlier in men than women, indicating that men may be more sensitive to facial features related to mild facial expressions (Study 2). The current findings suggest that the female advantage in processing of facial expressions is absent in unconscious processing of emotional information. The female advantage in facial expression processing may require conscious perception of faces.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00392 | DOI Listing |
J Hum Genet
January 2025
Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100144, China.
Hemifacial microsomia (HFM) is a rare congenital disorder that affects facial symmetry, ear development, and other congenital anomalies. However, known causal genes account for only approximately 6% of patients, indicating the need to discover more pathogenic genes. Association tests demonstrated an association between common variants in SHROOM3 and HFM (P = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Human Biology & Primate Cognition Department, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is an objective observation tool for measuring human facial behaviour. It avoids subjective attributions of meaning by objectively measuring independent movements linked to facial muscles, called Action Units (AUs). FACS has been adapted to 11 other taxa, including most apes, macaques and domestic animals, but not yet gorillas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects various body systems, including the skin and facial features. Estrogen promotes lupus in human and mouse models of SLE. In this study, we conducted an in vivo study to investigate the relationship between two estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) on the symptoms of SLE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Exp Psychol Gen
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Emotion perception is a fundamental aspect of our lives because others' emotions may provide important information about their reactions, attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Following the seminal work of Ekman, much of the research on emotion perception has focused on facial expressions. Recent evidence suggests, however, that facial expressions may be more ambiguous than previously assumed and that context also plays an important role in deciphering the emotional states of others.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas, United States of America.
There has been an increased interest in standardized approaches to coding facial movement in mammals. Such approaches include Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS), where individuals are trained to identify discrete facial muscle movements that combine to create a facial configuration. Some studies have utilized FACS to analyze facial signaling, recording the quantity of morphologically distinct facial signals a species can generate.
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