COLUMBUS – Some studies say as much as 93 percent of all communication is non-verbal – voice inflection, body language and, of course, facial expressions.
An arched eyebrow, a tense mouth, and we usually know what the person across from us is feeling.
How, though?
Researchers at Ohio State University think they’ve located the part of the brain that recognizes these subtle facial changes — “a very tiny, small region that is specifically dedicated exclusively to this task,” said Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
Their paper, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, pinpoints that region as behind the right ear in an area called the posterior superior temporal sulcus. That part of the brain was activated as test subjects evaluated expressions on the faces of more than 1,000 images.
It’s more than just fascinating: Martinez said the results might help research into the evolution of language and grammar and could prove useful for those who don’t pick up on facial cues, including some people with autism.