Researchers have successfully adapted a standardized system for analyzing facial expressions to include bonobos, our closest living relatives, alongside chimpanzees.

If the muscle attaches at a place that moves during the action of the muscle, the attachment is called an insertion. The depressor labii inferioris inserts into the skin of the lower lip.

Bonobo facial expressions reveal complex communication; new system maps 28 moves from distinct muscle actions.

The face contains over 40 muscles responsible for our expressions and movements. Unlike body muscles that attach to bones on both ends, many facial muscles connect directly to the skin on one end.

Activation of each muscle group causes a specific change in facial expression. For example, pain-related expressions often include furrowed brows, elevated cheeks, squinting, wrinkled nose and ...

A smaller, more recent 2021 pilot study involving six people suggested that facial massage can improve muscle mobility in the face. This, in turn, may help “lift” the cheeks.

Coyotes turn out to have face muscles that look capable of making that big-eyed, sad-puppy face that dogs have used to melt human hearts for eons. That discovery supports a rethink of humans ...

Spatial similarity between the FEPS and other pain-related signatures. Credit: (2024). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.87962.2 ...