Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman is internationally recognized as the leading authority on human physiognomy. He has studied the human face in its minute details and has identified and catalogued all the facial muscles and how they work to generate about 7,000 different facial expressions with different emotional implications.

In the process, he has developed a system of identifying underlying emotions from different facial expressions. He has worked regularly with CIA and FBI agents to teach them how to detect lies when questioning suspects by looking for slight, barely noticeable expressions.

During the course of his research, Ekman has realized that facial expressions are universal. Paul Ekman studied tribes in New Guinea and compared their facial expression to those of Americans. He states that he did not find a single emotional expression that isn't universal.

Professor Paul Ekman, Ph.D. has published eight books and countless articles on the understanding of facial expression, emotion and deception.