Are You Looking at Me?
Yael: Today, on A Moment of Sci...Don, why are you staring at me like you're angry? It's freaking me out.

Don: Well, you know how eye contact is a pretty important component of interacting with other people, right? So scientists recently tested this by measuring people's brain activity as they responded to pictures of angry people and pictures of people who look afraid. And it turns out that eye contact plays an important role when people are evaluating potential threats.

Y: Well, I certainly felt threatened by your glare.

D: And if we'd measured your brain activity, we'd have seen that the part of your brain that regulates emotions and detects potential threats was hard at work. On the other hand, if I'd been scowling at something else, like this microphone, this wouldn't have bothered you nearly as much. And the exact opposite is true for fear. If I were staring at something and looking really frightened, your brain would work harder to figure out if whatever is scaring me may also pose a danger to you, than it would if I were looking at you directly.

Y: Oh, I get it. Eye contact means different things in different situations. If you're mad and looking at me, you might be a threat. But if you're scared and looking at me, it's unlikely that you're going to attack.

D: Right. So what the study suggests is that when you're studying emotions, you have to take eye contact into consideration. It also suggests that in ambiguous situations, your brain has to do more work to process other people's facial expressions in order to be able to evaluate the situation and respond appropriately.