Scans reveal brain activity responsible for decoding facial expressions

It can take just a fraction of a second to recognise how someone is feeling after first setting eyes on their face. But in this short time, your brain has analysed the facial features, cross-referenced the information and worked out if the person is in a friendly or foul mood – before you are even fully aware. Now researchers have pinpointed the exact region of the brain where this facial decoding takes place, a part of the brain just above your right ear. Researchers have pinpointed the region of the brain where facial expressions are decoded. Using functional MRI scans, neuroscientists monitored brain activity in people's brain as they looked at images of facial expressions.