Emotional contagion, the emotional state‐matching of an individual with another, seems to
be crucial for many social species. In recent years evidence on emotional contagion in …

Covid-19 pandemics has fostered a pervasive use of facemasks all around the world. While
they help in preventing infection, there are concerns related to the possible impact of …

Highlights•Yawning is a highly conserved neurophysiological adaptation among
vertebrates.•The detection of yawning appears to be biologically important in social …

Influential theoretical models argue that an internal simulation mechanism (motor or
sensorimotor simulation) supports the recognition of facial expressions. However, despite …

This review explores spontaneous mimicry in the context of three questions. The first
question concerns the role of spontaneous mimicry in processing conceptual information …

This opinion piece aims to tackle the biological, psychological, neural and cultural
underpinnings of laughter from a naturalistic and evolutionary perspective. A naturalistic …

Although sensory processing is pivotal to nearly every theory of emotion, the evaluation of
the visual input as 'emotional'(eg a smile as signalling happiness) has been traditionally …

Human laughter and laugh faces show similarities in morphology and function with animal
playful expressions. To better understand primordial uses and effects of human laughter and …

Affective states are expressed in an individual's physical appearance, ranging from facial
expressions and body postures, to indicators of physiological arousal (eg, a blush) …

Highlights•Lions yawn when they are relaxed and engage in social affiliation.•The arousal
state seems to inhibit yawning in wild lions.•Wild lions are infected by others' yawns.•Yawn …