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Mask causes greater brain perception of pain and anger, study says

A new study, developed by researcher João Alves, under the guidance of Professor Freitas-Magalhães, director of the Laboratory of Facial Expression of Emotion (FEELab), at Fernando Pessoa University (UFP), in Portugal, argues that the use of a mask disturbs emotional communication.

As the lower part of the face is covered, the use of mask it causes a much greater perception of pain and anger in the brain, which is alert when looking for patterns and facial expressions.

The statement released by FEELab says that the brain seeks to map all traces that allow identifying the associated emotions and the mask interferes in this process.

Thus, “the brain searches for and intensifies the markers in the upper part of the face”, says the professor.

Freitas-Magalhães explains that the behavior is not new.

This “is ancestral and evolutionary, particularly reinforcing the instinct to map pain and anger in the selective survival process.”

The results confirm the “priority of the brain’s instinctual behavior when human survival is at stake”, concludes Freitas-Magalhães.

The director of FEELab is also the author of book called “The Face of Emotions in the Pandemic – The Lost Brain”, available for sale in Brazil.

Reference: CNN Brasil

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