Daily HealthBeat Tip - October 31, 2007

They sense your fear

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

When you’re afraid, can people notice? Research indicates there’s a good chance, just by checking the whites of your eyes.

Eunice Yang of Vanderbilt found this when she had people detect obscured pictures of people with fearful, happy or neutral expressions. She says people were quickest to notice the fear faces.

Senior author David Zald says the viewers particularly pick up on the whites of eyes being wider in the fear faces. He thinks that could be biological – that other people’s fear would indicate there’s something around to be afraid of.  

He says it’s hard to hide.

``Our ability to actually disguise our fear is probably really hindered by the simple fact that other people can pick it up very quickly.’’ (8 seconds)

The study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health, was in the journal Emotion.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008