Gaze direction affects face perception in humans.

We recorded event-related potentials (ERP) in response to images of faces with a straight gaze (straight eyes) and eyes averted (averted eyes). Peak latencies of ERP components showed no significant change between straight eyes and averted eyes, but amplitude for averted eyes, particularly when averted to the right, was significantly larger than that for straight eyes at the lateral temporal electrode of the right hemisphere. Single-unit recordings in monkeys and neuroimaging studies in humans have revealed activity in the lateral temporal region, mainly the superior temporal sulcus, and a clinical study demonstrated the importance of the right hemisphere when viewing gaze direction. This is the first systematic neurophysiological report to confirm these findings using ERP.