3D functional modules of the facial muscles (3D FACE)

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An important feature of mammals is the development of a movable skin in the face. The morphology and the number of facial muscles have changed evolutionarily, especially in the course of the social function of facial expressions. Among the hominids (great apes), the human face shows the greatest variety of facial expressions without it being ultimately clear why this is so. For the first time, the project applied for here aims to functionally understand the human facial muscles in a combination of different techniques in their microscopic anatomy. Preparations from body donations are used. We combine computed tomography, magnetic resonance tomography, micro-computed tomography examinations with high-resolution ultrasound examinations accompanied by 3D fascicle preparation and histochemical muscle fiber typing as well as further microscopic tissue examinations. Our most important hypotheses are: a) It is not individual facial muscles that form functional units for facial expressions and emotional expression, but rather sub-units in the muscles, which in turn can act across muscles; b) These functional subunits differ; c) These functional-muscular differences explain the possibilities of facial and emotional expression of people; d) gender differences are to be expected. This basic knowledge is a prerequisite for an follow-up application including then 1) modeling three-dimensional models for facial movements and emotional expressions in subsequent examinations; 2) integrate this data into automatic image analysis methods for evaluating facial expressions; and 3) to understand the changed facial expression in diseases of the facial muscles of humans and to be able to develop improved approaches for the personalized rehabilitation of these disorders.