Slow Breathing Split Fear Perception by Breath Phase

Slow Breathing Split Fear Perception by Breath Phase

TL;DR: A 2025 study in European Journal of Neuroscience found that slow breathing sharpened fearful-face perception during inhalation but weakened it during exhalation, with magnetoencephalography showing brain-timing changes before the face appeared. Key Findings 31 adults judged faces while breathing on cue: The main experiment paired normal-paced and slow-paced breathing with a fearful-versus-neutral face discrimination …

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Digital Avatar Faces Appear Believable When Eyes Match Emotions

Digital Faces Looked More Believable When Their Eyes Matched the Emotion

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Cognition and Emotion found that digital smiles and angry faces looked more believable with direct gaze, while sad faces looked more believable with downward gaze. Key Findings Direct gaze owned happiness and anger: Both “approach” emotions looked most genuine when the avatar’s eyes met the observer. Believability dropped as the …

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