--- title: Trustworthiness: Your Brain Makes a Judgment in Milliseconds description: We make calls on trustworthiness almost instantly canonical: https://time.com/3083667/brain-trustworthiness/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-06T15:09:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:47.284Z article:section: Health og:title: Trustworthiness: Your Brain Makes a Judgment in Milliseconds og:description: We make calls on trustworthiness almost instantly og:url: https://time.com/3083667/brain-trustworthiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3815f801779fefb1/698690dd810bbbad56c91bfb/brain.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4180 og:image:height: 2351 og:image:alt: Brain og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trustworthiness: Your Brain Makes a Judgment in Milliseconds twitter:description: We make calls on trustworthiness almost instantly twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3815f801779fefb1/698690dd810bbbad56c91bfb/brain.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Our Brains Immediately Judge People > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 6, 2014 3:09 PM UTC  05 Nov 2012 --- caput cerebellum cerebrum, encephalon diencephalon N olfactorius telencephalon truncus cerebri Brain Brainstem Cerebellum Cerebrum Diencephalon Head Hemisphere left, lateral nerv, nerves Nervous system Olfactory nerve --- Image by © Science Photo Library/Corbis 05 Nov 2012 --- caput cerebellum cerebrum, encephalon diencephalon N olfactorius telencephalon truncus cerebri Brain Brainstem Cerebellum Cerebrum Diencephalon Head Hemisphere left, lateral nerv, nerves Nervous system Olfactory nerve --- Image by © Science Photo Library/Corbis Science Photo Library/Corbis by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 6, 2014 3:09 PM UTC Even if we cannot consciously see a person’s face, our brain is able to make a snap decision about how trustworthy they are. According to a new study published in the _Journal of Neuroscience_, the brain immediately determines how trustworthy a face is before it’s fully perceived, which supports the fact that we make very fast judgments about people. Researchers at Dartmouth College and New York University showed a group of participants photos of real people’s faces, as well as computer-generated faces that were meant to look either trustworthy or untrustworthy. It’s been shown in the past that people generally think that faces with high inner eyebrows and prominent cheekbones are more trustworthy, and the opposite features are untrustworthy, which the researchers were able to confirm. In a second part of their experiment, the researchers showed a separate group of participants the same images but for only about 30 milliseconds while they were in a brain scanner. They then did something called “backward masking,” which consists of showing a participant an irrelevant image or “mask” immediately after quickly showing them a face. The procedure makes the brain incapable of processing the face. Even though the patients were not able to process the faces, their brains did. The researchers focused on activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for social and emotional behavior, and found that specific areas of the amygdala were activated based on judgments of trustworthiness or non-trustworthiness. This, the researchers conclude, is evidence that our brains make judgments of people before we even process who they are or what they look like. Keep that in mind the next time you’re meeting someone new. 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