Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Eye Tracking During A Complex Aviation Task For Insights Into Information Processing
Published on: April 4, 2025
Pointing with the eyes: the role of gaze in communicating danger
Nouchine Hadjikhani1, Rick Hoge, Josh Snyder
1Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. nouchine@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Facial expression and direction of gaze are two important sources of social information, and what message each conveys may ultimately depend on how the respective information interacts in the eye of the perceiver. Direct gaze signals an interaction with the observer but averted gaze amounts to "pointing with the eyes", and in combination with a fearful facial expression may signal the presence of environmental danger. We used fMRI to examine how gaze direction influences brain processing of facial expression of fear. The combination of fearful faces and averted gazes activated areas related to gaze shifting (STS, IPS) and fear-processing (amygdala, hypothalamus, pallidum). Additional modulation of activation was observed in motion detection areas, in premotor areas and in the somatosensory cortex, bilaterally. Our results indicate that the direction of gaze prompts a process whereby the brain combines the meaning of the facial expression with the information provided by gaze direction, and in the process computes the behavioral implications for the observer.
More Related Videos
07:09Gaze in Action: Head-mounted Eye Tracking of Children's Dynamic Visual Attention During Naturalistic Behavior
Published on: November 14, 2018
07:36Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects
Published on: November 30, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
Channels of Non-Verbal Communication
Accessory Structures of the Eye
Non-Verbal Cues
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Bystander Effect