TY - JOUR TI - Efficient recognition of facial expressions does not require motor simulation AU - Vannuscorps, Gilles AU - Andres, Michael AU - Caramazza, Alfonso A2 - Ivry, Richard B A2 - Wood, Adrienne VL - 9 PY - 2020 DA - 2020/05/04 SP - e54687 C1 - eLife 2020;9:e54687 DO - 10.7554/eLife.54687 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.54687 AB - What mechanisms underlie facial expression recognition? A popular hypothesis holds that efficient facial expression recognition cannot be achieved by visual analysis alone but additionally requires a mechanism of motor simulation — an unconscious, covert imitation of the observed facial postures and movements. Here, we first discuss why this hypothesis does not necessarily follow from extant empirical evidence. Next, we report experimental evidence against the central premise of this view: we demonstrate that individuals can achieve normotypical efficient facial expression recognition despite a congenital absence of relevant facial motor representations and, therefore, unaided by motor simulation. This underscores the need to reconsider the role of motor simulation in facial expression recognition. KW - emotion KW - facial expression KW - visual recognition JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -