Why do we have eyebrows?

It is common for people to groom their eyebrows by means of threading and makeup. But have you ever wonder why do we have eyebrows? What is the function? and during the course of evolution do future humans have eyebrows on their forehead?

Eyebrows are an area of short hair above the eyes that follow a shape to the lower margin of the brow ridges. Eyebrow hair follicles share the same basic structure as hair follicles elsewhere on the body but are distinguished by their shorter anagen (growing) phase.

We use our eyebrows to communicate and express our emotions. The position of eyebrows also expresses the picture of the individual’s mood. This tells us whether a person is friendly or dangerous.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, people cover their faces with masks but still, we can picture individual mood through the position of eyebrows.

People with Alopecia don’t have eyebrows because the immune system attacks hair follicles and the main symptom is hair loss. Their eyes come in direct contact with rain, and sweat. In warm weather, sweat runs into their eyes and makes them sore. In wet weather, they have to keep wiping the rain out of their eyes. We could be very uncomfortable without them.

In a Research, Scientists have done an experiment to find the role of eyebrows in facial aesthetics. In the finding, they suggest that the absence of eyebrows in familiar faces leads to a very large and significant disruption in recognition performance. In fact, a significantly greater decrement in face recognition is observed in the absence of eyebrows than in the absence of eyes.

Therefore, Eyebrows not only helps to save our eyes from rain and sweat they also help to detect individual mood and familiar faces.

Reference:

Sadr J, Jarudi I, Sinha P. The role of eyebrows in face recognition. Perception. 2003;32:285–293. doi: 10.1068/p5027. – DOI – PubMed

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