Every time we smile, grimace, or flash a quick look of surprise, it feels effortless, but the brain is quietly coordinating an intricate performance. This study shows that facial gestures aren’t controlled by two separate “systems” (one for deliberate expressions and one for emotional ones), as scientists long assumed. Instead, multiple face-control regions in the brain work together, using different kinds of signals: some are fast and shifting, like real-time choreography, while others are steadier, like a held intention. Remarkably, these brain patterns appear before the face even moves, meaning the brain starts preparing a gesture in advance, shaping it not just as a movement, but as a socially meaningful message. That matters because facial expressions are one of our most powerful tools for communication and understanding how the brain builds them helps explain what can go wrong after brain injury or in conditions that affect social signaling, This may eventually guide new ways to restore or interpret facial communication when it’s lost.

A large-scale register-based study conducted at the University of Oulu, Finland, shows that the propensity of top corporate executives to engage in financial misconduct is strongly associated with the financial crime history of their parents, spouses, and their childhood living environment.

A new Curtin University-led study has shed new light on the widespread number of households in developing countries burning plastic as an everyday energy source, uncovering serious international health, social equality and environmental concerns.

A new study from Bar-Ilan University reveals that people with social anxiety, a common condition marked by fear or discomfort in social situations, may actually feel and perform better when they believe that others’ opinions of them are fixed rather than changeable. Adopting this “fixed mindset” made social interactions feel less stressful and more manageable, leading to improved performance and more positive everyday experiences.