Our face speaks a thousand words: Study

If one keenly observes the facial expressions of another person for a specified amount of time, he may just be able to do without having to utter a word.

Expressions better studied in motion
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany conducted a study to reveal that facial expressions in action, for instance- in a movie, may be better comprehended than the ones captured in static pictures.

“A facial expression can state a lot and we are able to classify an expression much better when it moves naturally rather than when it is frozen in a photograph,” said the scientists.

They assert that you may need to study an expression for at least 100 milliseconds, before you can get to figure out what it implies. If followed for a lesser duration, the brain may not be able to comprehend the look.

Different expressions may suggest different things, like a nod can indicate understanding, while a frown points towards disapproval.

Changing the orientation of the head may also be a type of expression, signaling something. For example, a nod or a shake of the head may indicate understanding. Other expressions may complex warping of skin or facial parts, such as wrinkling of the nose or frowning to indicate disapproval or disgust.

Studying the mood
According to the Max Planck release, participants of the study were shown pictures of humans with different facial expressions to find out the extent to which one can read the mood of the person by merely interacting with him and studying his facial expressions.

The pictures showed humans in various expressions including simple emotions like ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ and also intricate ones like ‘surprise’, ‘confusion’, ‘agreement’ etc that are used to lay emphasis on some things or to modify a certain statement.

Smiling can be a simple gesture indicating happiness, and similarly, nodding one’s head in a particular direction may clearly depict a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.

According to the scientists, expressions are an active phenomenon and may reveal about the state of mind of a person, but this idea needs to be probed further with the help of video sequences.

“Facial expressions are a dynamic phenomenon and need to be investigated with the help of video sequences in order to get a better understanding,” said Dr Christian Wallraven, co-author of the study.