Psychology research suggests that the human body, particularly the muscles on our face, plays a key part in the processing of others’ emotions. For instance, past findings suggest that when we see another person smiling or frowning, we often unconsciously mimic their facial expression, and this helps us interpret their emotions.
Theories suggest that the mimicry of facial expressions sends signals from our facial muscles to the brain, broadly referred to as “facial feedback,” which in turn contributes to the interpretation of other people’s emotions. So far, however, the contribution of this feedback to emotion recognition and how its contribution unfolds over time remain poorly understood.
Researchers at the University of Essex recently carried out a study to investigate the effects of facial feedback on the perception of emotions at different stages of visual processing, using a technique known as facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES). Their findings, published in Communications Psychology, suggest that signals generated by the movements of muscles on people’s faces influence how they interpret the emotions of others, particularly during the earlier stages of visual processing.