Previously, some researchers put forward many theories to explain the function of human eyebrows, including its main function is to prevent water (mainly salty sweat and rain) from flowing into the eyes, or when early primitive people began to sleep on the ground, the clearly visible eyebrows provided protection against predators. However, new research shows that human eyebrows are developed as a way of communication, which is their main function. Humans have developed smooth foreheads, clearly visible eyebrows, and can carry out extensive sports and express various subtle emotions, including identification and sympathy.
Scientists say that human faces evolved to help us communicate our emotions. Then all parts of the face will play a role in communicating feelings. Moving eyebrows and other facial features enable us to communicate without words, which may help shape people's subtle emotions. Other changes in face shape and muscle activity help to express a wide range of subtle emotions.
Paul, Principal Investigator of York University? Professor ohiggins said? We can now express more than 20 different emotions with our faces through muscle contraction or relaxation. ? We know that other factors, such as diet, respiratory physiology and climate, have also contributed to modern people's face shape, but it is too simplistic to explain its evolution only from these factors.
A paper published in the Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Oral Processing shows that speech production is always accompanied by facial and gesture activities. This project is about how head movements and facial expressions (especially changes in eyes and eyebrows) are related to sound changes in different speech situations. By recording 10, the normal subjects read aloud, answer yes/no questions and talk to the interviewer. Only when it is 7 1%, the rapid eyebrow movement produced by the subjects when they speak is related to the level of emotion.
This shows that the movement of eyebrows and the change of fundamental frequency are not automatically linked, but more the result of language and communication choices. It should also be noted that 38% of eyebrow movements are generated when the subjects are not talking. Therefore, the movement of eyebrows can also be used as a reverse channel signal, or play the role of turn-taking in conversation.
Of course, in addition to the function of eyebrows, many people are now very concerned about the fashion of eyebrows. Eyebrows change regularly at all ages, and eyebrows have always been the main feature of women's fashion. Since the 8th century, both men and women in Japan have had the custom of trimming their eyebrows, that is, shaving or pulling them out, and then painting them. This practice can be compared with the Elizabethan practice, when women with higher status would completely pull out their eyebrows. In the 1920 s and 1930 s, trimming thin eyebrows by strictly plucking eyebrows became popular again.