Human face can express 21 nuances

In a new study, we often show 21 different facial expressions on the face, three times more than the long-accepted number (6 shades).

According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences magazine, researchers at Ohio University (USA) have asked 230 volunteers to describe 6 basic emotions known: happiness, suffering, fear, anger , surprised and disgusting. Volunteers are also asked to express mixed emotions, such as "happy surprises", "sadly angry" or "disgusting in a fun way".

To make sure the results are as clear as possible, volunteers are not allowed to wear glasses or beard. They were also banned from wearing hats and tucked into their bangs to reveal their forehead and eyebrows.

Before being photographed, the subjects were allowed to practice time to show their face in front of the mirror. The photos are then analyzed separately to determine which facial muscles have moved to express their emotions.

The results reveal clear differences in how people express 21 emotional nuances on their faces. For example, 99% of the time, volunteers expressed happiness by leaning on their cheeks and smiling. Surprise is also very easy to detect, because 92% of volunteers open their eyes and lower their jaws.

Analysis shows that mixed emotions are expressed through a combination of certain characteristics of single emotions. For example, someone "happily surprised" will move all the muscles attached to expressing surprise, plus show a smile. Everyone has this face when suddenly getting some good news.

In contrast, people "sadly upset" when someone they care about upset them. Other complex emotions, such as horrors include feelings of disgust and anger, but emphasize disgust. Hate is also related to these two emotions, but angering is more angry than disgust.

We will "disgust in a happy way" when laughing at something we also feel a bit disgusted, such as an annoying joke. In this situation, we combine the squinting and wrinkling of the nose to show disgust with a happy smile.

The team claims that their work will help to better understand people's emotions. Thus, research can help treat diseases such as autism or post-traumatic stress disorder, and support the creation of useful computer models for people with disabilities.

21 expressive nuances separately on the face of Happiness
Sad
Fear
Angry
Surprise
Hideous
Horror Surprisingly happy
Disgusting in a fun way
Sadly frightened
Sadly surprised
Sadly angry
Disgusting sadly
Fearful fear Fearfully surprised
Terrifying disgust
Angry surprise
Disgusted with anger
Amazingly disgusting
Hate
Fear