Facial visual attention to menton deviation: An objective evaluation by laypeople

Area of Science:

• Facial aesthetics
• Ophthalmology
• Psychology

Background:

• Facial asymmetry, specifically menton deviation (MD), can affect facial harmony.
• Understanding laypeople's perception of facial deviations is crucial for aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess how menton deviation severity influences laypeople's facial perceptions.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical intervention in normalizing visual attention patterns in the face.

Main Methods:

• Eye-tracking technology was used to record the scanning paths of 177 laypeople.
• Participants observed images of individuals with no MD, and with varying degrees of pre- and post-treatment MD.
• Fixation durations on specific facial areas of interest (AOIs) were analyzed and compared.

Main Results:

• Attention shifted to the lower face and away from the eyes as MD increased to 3° (p<0.001).
• At 9° MD, attention significantly increased on the lower face, surpassing fixation on the eyes and nose (p<0.0104).
• Post-surgery images showed visual attention patterns similar to those of individuals without MD, indicating normalization.

Conclusions:

• Laypeople can detect MD as low as 3°, altering visual focus towards the deviation.
• MD of 9° is highly noticeable and significantly redirects facial visual attention.
• Surgical correction of MD effectively normalizes laypeople's facial visual attention patterns.