# @themacrosift on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DWpjC8TkjHp
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/62507328-themacrosift-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a5887dbb6f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-03T00:20:46.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Macro Sift | Exponential Tech (@themacrosift) — https://gondola.cc/themacrosift

## Caption

🔎 Monkey Faces

As anyone who’s been scolded to “fix your face” knows, facial expressions are voluntary in most humans. But the running assumption for other expressive primates, like monkeys, was that their facial expressions aren’t so—until now. In a recent study, scientists recorded neural activity as rhesus macaque monkeys interacted with one another in a lab. They found that both the medial cortex, which controls spontaneous emotional expressions, and the lateral cortex, which controls voluntary actions, were active as the monkeys made faces at each other.  
 
Why this is interesting: These two parts of the brain’s frontal lobe were long thought to operate independently. But the study showed that they can work together, further entangling brain regions’ function in the production of facial expressions. This was true for both friendly facial expressions and threatening faces in the primates. The regions, however, did run at different speeds—activity in the lateral cortex changed quickly and the medial cortex was at a more leisurely pace—perhaps responding to slower-moving social cues.  
 
What the experts say: While lab-based experiments don’t capture the full experience of emoting in the wild, the exploration of this question “tells us in infinitely more detail how we can investigate the neurology of facial displays,” says Alan Fridlund, a social and evolutionary psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in this study. —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor 
~Scientfic American

#Monkeys #Smile

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## Tags

smile, monkeys

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