The eyes are not the window to basic emotions

► We verified which facial cue is the most important to discriminate between eight static and dynamic facial expressions. ► The mouth is the most important cue for both static and dynamic facial expressions. ► This contrasts with a widespread belief that the eye area is the most important cue for this task. ► This strategy might come from remnants of the strategy the brain has developed with dynamic stimuli. ► The limited capacity of the visuo-cognitive system might also explain this strategy.