Where funny faces come from
Looking afraid or disgusted once served a surprising purpose
By Amy Maxmen
Faces say so much that Google’s Gmail includes more than 20 emoticons :) to make up for the personal touches that e-mail lacks. But those basic expressions, so important in conversation, didn’t originate for the sake of communication, psychologists say.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/8139.jpg?resize=300%2C175&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/8140.jpg?resize=199%2C300&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/8141.jpg?resize=300%2C199&ssl=1)
At least two emotional expressions, those of fear and disgust, first served to moderate sensations coming in from the outside world, researchers report online June 15 in Nature Neuroscience. They show that terrified eyes widen and nostrils flare to monitor the surroundings, and the nose crinkles in disgust to impede nasty odors.
Darwin hypothesized that facial expressions originally had just such a use in his overlooked book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. He thought faces once acted to protect the beholder, like a flexible shield between the atmosphere and sensory receptors within the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Yet until now, that idea hadn’t been tested and most people believe that expressions have always been just a way to communicate, says Adam Anderson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Toronto who led the study.