Facial Biomarkers: From Neural Signal to Expressive Pattern

Facial Biomarkers is based on the hypothesis that certain observable and measurable characteristics of facial activity may constitute relevant indicators of neurofunctional, emotional and behavioural processes. This does not mean that an isolated expression allows us to know directly what a person thinks, feels or intends to do. Such an assumption would constitute a scientifically untenable simplification. Rather, it means that the dynamics of the face contain biological information which, when properly contextualised, measured and interpreted, may contribute to our understanding of human functioning. A facial biomarker should therefore not be understood as a photograph. It is a process. It may emerge in a specific region of the face or result from the coordination of different systems. It may involve the eyebrows, eyelids, pupils, nose, cheeks, lips, chin or neck. It may also interact with movements of the eyes, head and tongue, as well as with behavioural changes and vocal components., argues Prof. Freitas-Magalhães, the world's leading expert for Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology and the Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, by Elsevier, Oxford, in his pioneering and extraordinary book on Science of facial biomarkers.