Teenagers are particularly sensitive to facial expressions of anger and fear and lose some of that sensitivity as they age, finds a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Researchers tested more than 9,500 online participants, ages 10 to 85, on a task that measured sensitivity to emotion. Participants saw pairs of faces with carefully calibrated expressions and were asked to determine which member of each pair was happier, sadder or more fearful. On average, sensitivity to all facial expressions, but especially to anger, was the highest among participants in early to mid-adolescence and was somewhat lower among those in early adulthood. Among older adult participants, sensitivity to anger and fear was even lower–but sensitivity to happiness was about the same as in younger adults. (Monitor on Psychology)

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