Posted on 10/17/2006 10:14:13 AM PDT by blam
You were born with your future facial expressions
22:00 16 October 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
Facial expressions appear to be at least partially inherited, according to a study of blind people and their relatives.
Experts say the findings indicate that people do not always learn their expressions for certain emotions by copying the facial quirks they see as youngsters.
To understand the “nature vs. nurture” component of facial expressions, Israeli researchers recruited 21 people who were born blind along with 30 of their relatives. The 51 volunteers were videotaped as they recounted happy, sad and aggravating life experiences, concentrated on puzzles and heard a gory story and an unexpected question in gibberish.
Scientists then analysed these hour-long sessions, noting each individual change – such as raised eyebrow or pursed lips – that occurred in subjects’ faces as they felt various emotions. The team entered the information into a computer, which analysed the sequences and frequencies of these facial movements using a sophisticated statistical program.
According to the analysis, the blind participants were significantly more likely to make angry, sad and pensive facial expressions that resembled those of their relatives than of strangers.
This result was striking given that the blind subjects had never seen their relatives at all, says Gili Peleg at the University of Haifa, Israel, one of the scientists behind the new research.
Genetic implications One subject did not even know his biological mother until the age of 18 years because she had given him up for adoption at birth, Peleg adds. “When we saw the similarity between their expressions it was just amazing,” she says.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
This is ABSOLUTELY true!!! My daughter can have an expression that looks JUST like her low-life father even though she hasn't seen him since she was two. So it isn't from seeing the expression. It makes me want to say things like "STOP LOOKING LIKE YOUR FATHER!".
My own study says: "People who are close blood relatives tend to be alike in a lot of ways!"
Amazing.
Where do I collect my $1M in research grant money?
I'm also available for research on the color of the sky, and the grass.
I have thought from time to time how our face determines our life.
We all know people who have a grumpy looking face despite their best efforts to "happy" it up. I am sure it brings out the grump in the way others treat them, thereby putting a whole grouch cycle into motion.
Ditto for folks with naturally happy faces- or smart, or mischevious, or funny, or sexy, etc...
But I don't think she was born with it ...
The unfortunate truth of life is that you will forever be known by the company you keep...
So all those times my mother said to stop making that face or my face would freeze that way it was HER face that was already frozen there? Is there nothing we can't blame on our parents?
Early photo of yours truly (not really).
LOL
I agree. When my daughter was a child, she was in a program where children were placed in a nursing home in the afternoons with the older people. I couldn't help notice how frozen the looks of most of the people's faces were. There was love, tenderness, kindness, bitterness, hatred, etc. I figured it was a summary of their life experiences.
>>>The unfortunate truth of life is that you will forever be known by the company you keep...>>>
Yeah. Sad, ain't it?
No wonder my dad smacked me right after the doctor spanked me.
ROFL!!
A lot of Freepers are like Ann Coulter - making a political statement out of any subject! Amd usually a funny one at that! Very good observation and point! 8-)
Karl Rove
Karl Rove
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