The Importance of Being Frightened

June 20, 2008 | Source: ScienceNOW News

Emotional facial expressions confer a survival advantage, University of Toronto researchers have found, using vision and breathing tests.

(J. Susskind and A. Anderson/University of Toronto)

(J. Susskind and A. Anderson/University of Toronto)

A fearful visage improves peripheral vision, speeds up eye movement, and boosts air flow, potentially allowing a person to more quickly sense and respond to danger. Squinty, scrunched-up disgusted faces had the opposite effect, limiting vision and decreasing air flow, ostensibly to keep out substances that might be harmful to the eyes or lungs.