The neural basis of eye gaze processing

Johan D Carlin and Andrew J Calder

Neurobiological literature often seems like an alien, almost aseptic territory to us. However, when reviewing the work of Carlin and Calder (2013) on the neural basis of eye gaze processing, it is inevitable to find a direct bridge to our own sociological obsessions. The authors detail how specific areas of the brain, such as the anterior superior temporal sulcus, do not merely register an ocular direction mechanically, but encode a third party's focus of "social attention" (Perrett et al., 1985, as cited in Carlin & Calder, 2013).

Well... let's pause there for a second. This is fascinating because it offers us the organic reverse of intersubjectivity.

In qualitative sociology, we often take the co-construction of reality for granted. We talk about rituals, discourses, and the interaction order. But Carlin and Calder's (2013) text suggests that the act of "reading the mind from eye gaze" (Calder et al., 2002, as cited in Carlin & Calder, 2013) is not just a theoretical abstraction; it is a process that recruits a vast network of brain regions. And here comes the interesting part: the article highlights the role of the medial prefrontal cortex during "joint attention," differentiating the mere act of following a visual stimulus from the genuine act of synchronizing our attention with that of another person.

Mind you, I don't intend to propose a biological determinism. We already know that in our field absolute truths do not exist, and this is rather an exercise in interpretation. But interpreting that empathy and primary socialization have such a specific neurological scaffolding (Schilbach et al., 2010, as cited in Carlin & Calder, 2013), gives a brutal materiality to our theories. The gaze is the first anchor of the social fabric; it signals intentions, modifies expressions, and radically alters the dynamics of an interaction (Kendon, 1967, as cited in Carlin & Calder, 2013). Ultimately, we are not isolated monads negotiating meanings in a vacuum. We are, physically, bodies designed to seek and sustain the experience of "us".

References

-Calder, A. J., Lawrence, A., Keane, J., Scott, S., Owen, A., Christoffels, I., & Young, A. W. (2002). Reading the mind from eye gaze. Neuropsychologia, 40, 1129-1138.

-Carlin, J. D., & Calder, A. J. (2013). The neural basis of eye gaze processing. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23, 450-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2012.11.014.

-Kendon, A. (1967). Some functions of gaze-direction in social interaction. Acta Psychol, 26, 22-63.

-Perrett, D. I., Smith, P., Potter, D., Mistlin, A., Head, A., Milner, A., & Jeeves, M. (1985). Visual cells in the temporal cortex sensitive to face view and gaze direction. Proc R Soc Lond B, 223, 293-317.

-Schilbach, L., Wilms, M., Eickhoff, S. B., Romanzetti, S., Tepest, R., Bente, G., Shah, N. J., Fink, G. R., & Vogeley, K. (2010). Minds made for sharing: initiating joint attention recruits reward-related neurocircuitry. J Cogn Neurosci, 22, 2702-2715.