eyes

EYES

Body parts. Paired organs of vision, the movements, lid positions, and pupil size of which reveal a great deal about our emotions, convictions, and moods.

Usage: Gaze direction clearly shows others where our attention lies. We have developed an amazing ability to gaze back into the eyes of our beholders to gauge their feelings. However, being looked at so arouses the sympathetic nervous system (see FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT) that we may feel compelled to glance away. Perhaps because the eye's retina is an outgrowth of the forebrain, peering into someone else's eyes is not unlike seeing into the brain itself. This may be why the sacred Eye of Horus (the All-Seeing Utchat of Ancient Egypt) had so many complex meanings.

Anatomy. The resting position of an open eyelid is maintained by the levator palpebrae superioris muscle. Relaxed, the lower lid barely touches the bottom circumference of our iris, while the upper eyelid covers a good deal of its top. When excited, we widen our eye opening (or palpebral fissure), and narrow it when we feel threatened. Sudden eyelid closure is part of a protective, mammalian facial grimace brought on by the startle reflex (Salzen 1979). Widened eyes reflect emotions of the fight-or-flight response (see FLASHBULB EYES).

Culture. "Oriental jade dealers wear dark glasses, so that they do not give the game away when they see a particularly good example" (Morris 1994:198).

Limbal rings. Limbal rings are thin dark lines that encircle the eyes' colored irises. They appear in a pigmented juncture between the eyeballs' white, scleral tissue and the lenses' clear corneal tissue. As men and women age, their limbal rings may gradually fade from view or entirely disappear. Like pupil size, the presence of eye rings may not register in a viewer's consciousness, but according to research may be sensed as subliminal signs variously of aging, facial beauty, and health (see PUPIL SIZE). Perhaps the best-known media image of limbal rings is the haunting, 1985 National Geographic cover photo, entitled "Afghan Girl," of a green-eyed teenager named Sharbat Gula. Though a seemingly minor nonverbal detail, the limbal ring stands out as a major landmark on her enchanting face.

Evolution I. Our golf-ball-sized eyes glissade in bony sockets above the nose. Their spherical shape may be traced back to amphibian ancestors of the Carboniferous period (earlier, eyes had been flat and fishlike). Large eyes today accent the horizontal aspect of our face by counteracting the verticality of our nose.

Evolution II. Light-sensitive eyespots originated more than 500 m.y.a. in animals without backbones. Despite their primitiveness, or perhaps because of it, horizontally paired eyes are the primary focus of the human face today.

Fascination. We are enthralled by eyes. From the moment of birth we respond to our mother's eyes as if programmed to do so. Babies smile at black geometric spots--perceiving them as "eyes" by six weeks of age (Kandel et al. 1991:994). In adults, eye contact shows personal involvement and creates intimate bonds. Mutual gaze narrows the physical gap between us.

Primatology. As primates, for whom facial expressions provide key social and emotional information, we continually probe each other's eyes for positive or negative mood signs. We are acutely aware of being noticed by strangers. In waiting rooms we periodically glance up and scan for roving eyes (much as do monkeys in a cage).

True feelings. Eyes appear in the human embryo by ca. 22 days of age. From that time--through an incredible chain of neural commands--eyes accurately reflect how we feel about and relate to the people in our Nonverbal World. Eyes convey unpleasant feelings through closed eyelids and an averted gaze. Positive or provocative feelings show in opened eyelids, dilated pupils, and direct gaze (cf. PHARYNGEAL ARCH).

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Neuro-notes I. Suddenly narrowed or slitted eyes may reveal disagreement or uncertainty. A quick tightening of the eye-orbital muscles (i.e., of the orbicularis oculi, which we tense to show pain [Prkachin and Craig 1995]) hides much of our iris and eyeball behind lowered hoods. Negative feelings associated with doubt or misunderstanding (i.e., cognitive dissonance) quickly pass from the limbic system to the hindbrain's facial nucleus (cranial VII), which triggers a brief narrowing of the eyes as if to protect against emotional "pain."

Neuro-notes II. Rest-and-digest nerve fibers activate the pupillary sphincter muscles of the irises to constrict the pupils. Fight-or-flight nerve fibers from the superior cervical ganglion activate dilator muscles to expand the diameter of the pupils.

Neuro-notes III. Mirror neurons: "Certain neurons in the lateral intraparietal region, thought to control eye movements, respond to the sight of another monkey's eye movements as if they were mirror neurons for gaze (p. 196; source: Keysers, Christian, and Luciano Fadiga (2008). "The Mirror Neuron System: New Frontiers," in Social Neuroscience, Vol. 3, Nos. 3-4, pp. 193-98.)

See also CLEM, EYE-BLINK, GAZE-DOWN.

VISION CUES

Visual signal. 1. Incoming signs received through the eyes, causing the brain to see. 2. Outgoing signs produced by the reflection of light from physical objects (e.g., automobile grilles, clothing, and footwear) or body parts (e.g., the hands in waving, and the eyelids in blinking).

Evolution. Our higher-primate (or anthropoid) ancestors (ca. 35-40 m.y.a.) had an enlarged visual cortex at the back of the head, on the occipital lobe, with which to process color vision and depth. Today, the anthropoid's is the most complex visual cortex on earth, with anatomically separate areas for a. analyzing form, b. coordinating hand-and-eye movements, and c. recognizing faces. (N.B.: A few nerve cells in the lower temporal lobe are so narrowly specialized that they respond only to hands and faces.)

Neuroanatomy I. Light reflected from objects and body parts casts tiny images on the eye's nerve-sensitive retina. From here, electrochemical impulses cable through the optic nerve to a visual area at the back of the neocortex called V1. V1 neurons respond a. to linear details, and b. to wavelengths of color.

Neuroanatomy II. A second visual area, V2 (in front of V1), enhances our image of linear and color aspects of objects and bodily features. Additional processing also takes place in V3 (recognition of form and movement), V4 (additional color recognition), and V5 (movement; Restak 1994:27-8). Apart from our awareness, these modular areas of neocortex unify and give meaning to our vision of objects and body parts.

Neuroanatomy III. In the Primate Brain, modules of the inferior temporal neocortex evolved to provide visual input a. to the occipital neocortex's parvocellular interblob system (V1 to V2 and V4), permitting recognition of complex shapes, and b. to the inferior temporal cortex permitting heightened responses to hand gestures and the ability to recognize faces and facial expressions.

Neuro-notes. The inferior temporal cortex receives information fed forward through a series of sensory and association areas, beginning with the retina's relay in the occipital lobe at the back of our skull. Regarding the temporal cortex itself, it has become a remarkably specialized part of the nonverbal brain. Some of its cells respond, e.g., only to frontal or profile views of the face, while others fire only when facial expressions appear (Kandel et al. 1991:459). Familiarity registers in the superior temporal polysensory area (Young and Yamane 1992:1327).

BATON TWIRL

Spin sign. 1. The curiously contagious act of manually rotating a baton, or pencil, pen, club, knife, torch or other oblong artifact, at accelerated rpm to visually project a pleasant kinetic blur. 2. Often set to drumbeats or music, a twirled baton attracts notice and may lead viewers to whirl an object themselves (see ISOPRAXISM).

Usage. 1. Baton-twirling may be used in band performances (e.g., twirled drumsticks), dances (Tahitian torch-twirling), parades (drum major baton-twirling) and schoolrooms (informal pencil-twirling and pen-spinning) to attract attention, entertain and show manual skill. 2. Twirling is featured in widespread competitions, e.g., as sanctioned by the United States Twirling Association and the World Baton Twirling Federation.

Neuro-notes. Twirled batons are pleasant visual cues that may release the neurochemical, serotonin, into the central nervous system. Serotonin, a pleasure hormone, has been linked to Kluver's "form constants" as visual flickers, rotations and spirals are mediated by serotonergic brain receptors, and thus are aesthetically pleasing (Haberstadt 2015; see ART CUE, Form constants).

EVIL EYE

Killing look. 1. A lengthy, directed glance intentionally designed to be harmful. 2. Also, any of several eye-like charms, fetishes or talismans designed to ward off the evil eye.

Usage. Evil-eye beliefs are widespread in traditional and peasant societies, and in some urban areas today. With strong links to the sympathetic nervous system, eye contact often can be emotionally impulsive (see FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT). A stare is used by monkeys and apes as an aggressive threat. Given its emotional force and evolutionary roots in primates, it is not surprising that evil-eye messages have a widespread distribution among humans.

Bone-pointing. In Aboriginal Australia, staring while pointing a short length of bone, horn or wood at an enemy may result in the latter's premature death. Nonverbally, for those who believe in the power of evil eyes and sorcery, the threat of being targeted by enemies is psychologically "real." In his classic article, " 'Voodoo' Death," the American physiologist Walter Cannon (1871-1945) recounts an Australian case of near death from bone-pointing (Cannon 1942). A strong personal and physical orientation toward another may stimulate powerful emotions (see FEAR, ORIENTING REFLEX).

Folklore. According to the American anthropologist and folklorist, Alan Dundes (1934-2005), "The evil eye—the power to inflict illness, damage to property, or even death simply by gazing at or praising someone—is among the most pervasive and powerful folk beliefs in the Indo-European and Semitic world. It is also one of the most ancient, judging from its appearance in the Bible and in Sumerian texts five thousand years old" Dundes (1992).

See also EYE CONTACT, POINT and TALISMAN.

References:

Cannon, Walter B. (1942). " 'Voodoo’ Death," American Anthropologist (V. 44), pp. 169-181.

Dundes, Alan (ed) (1992). The Evil Eye: A Casebook (Madison, University of Wisconsin Press [https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/0291.htm; accessed Feb. 20, 2020]).

EYE-ROLLING

Visual evasion. A usually brief circular, sideward or upward movement of the eyes in their sockets that reveals the whiteness of the outer covering or sclera. By showing scleral tissue instead of the eye's normally visible iris and pupil, one may avoid eye contact and remove oneself from social interaction (see CUT-OFF). Eye-rolling can accompany such negative emotions as anger, disagreement, disbelief, exasperation and ridicule (see SARCASM).

Usage. Its prominently paired position at the front of the face above the nose enabled eye-rolling to become an efficient means of communicating contrary, defiant, inimical, oppositional and resistive feelings and moods. Unique in the animal kingdom, the whiteness of the human eye's sclera likely evolved to enhance the expressive force of mutual gaze (see EYE CONTACT).

Nonverbal pairing. Anthropologist David Givens notes that eye-rolling pairs well with a variety of often negative nonverbal signs, signals and cues (see, e.g., DISGUST, Usage; EYEBROW LOWER; GROAN; HEAD-SHAKE; HEAD-TILT-BACK; LIP-COMPRESSION; LIP-RETRACTION and WAN SMILE).

Semantics. Some propose that at least since Shakespearean times, English literature has cast eye-rolling as a sign of sexual attraction, and that the semantic shift to sarcasm may have occurred recently, in the 1980s. That neurological wiring for both intrinsic and extrinsic eye movements (e.g., for pupil size and eye-rolling, respectively) is deeply rooted in primitive spinal reflexes and emotion centers would seem to call the "recent semantic-shift" hypothesis in question (see Neuro-notes, below; and PUPIL SIZE, Neuro-notes).

Neuro-notes. Inward rotation (incyclotorsion) of the eyeball is due to superior oblique muscles mediated by the trochlear nerve (cranial IV). Outward rotation (excyclotorsion) is due to inferior oblique muscles mediated by the oculomotor nerve (cranial III), which also governs pupil dilation. A key facet of eye-rolling is its neural kinship with embryonic tactile withdrawal reflexes and protective movements designed to remove body parts from threatening circumstances (see FLEXION WITHDRAWAL).

GLITTER

Sparkle sign. An assortment of colorful, reflective, loosely packed small particles that collectively shimmer as they reflect light from diverse angles.

Usage. Glitter has been used cosmetically and in artwork to attract notice since prehistoric times. As a nonverbal medium of expression, glitter has had, and continues to have, a widespread geographic distribution.

Prehistoric gleam. Added to pigment, mica-flake glimmer has been used since ca. 40,000 years ago by Homo sapiens in Upper Paleolithic cave paintings. Illuminated by firelight, the painted images softly glowed.

Historic glimmer. Historically, and to the present day, glitter has been used cosmetically on faces (see FACE) and nails (see FINGERNAILS) at least since ancient Egyptian times.

Media. In the classic 1972 film "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," singer-songwriter David Bowie (1947-2016) wore an other-worldly metallic and glitter medallion-third-eye on his forehead. As makeup artist Pati Dubroff commented, "Seeing his Ziggy Stardust character was the first time I understood and saw that makeup could be fantastical . . . that it could take you to magical places" (Valdesolo 2016).

Neuro-notes. As primates with acute color vision, we find glitter naturally appealing to the eye (see PRIMATE BRAIN). Our appreciation of glitter may be innate (see ART CUE, Form constants, Likes).

See also PAISLEY.

Reference:

Valdesolo, Fiorella (2016). "How David Bowie Changed the Way We Look at Beauty," in Glamour (Jan. 12; www.glamour.com, accessed Jan. 1, 2020).