Altered behavioral patterns under self-perceived surveillance are well documented, such as increased tendencies to exhibit prosocial behaviors. Impacts of surveillance on more automatic aspects of cognition are less understood. Seymour et al. studied such psychological changes by evaluating individuals’ ability to process facial stimuli. Facial perception was significantly faster when participants were watched, and when the shown facial image was one with direct gaze. This difference was not observed with non-facial stimuli. As facial information are important social cues, this suggests an increase in social-specific attentional bias. These findings provide interesting food for thought with increasing levels of social surveillance in today’s society. Additional care should be considered towards mental health patients already exhibiting hypersensitivity to eye gaze due to irrational beliefs of being watched, such as those with psychosis or schizophrenia.¹³

References:

1. Wu S, et al. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes 2022;2;8(1). 2. Rezazadeh MB, et al. BMC Women's Health 2024;26;24(1):575. 3. Lin TC, et al. Appl. Sci. 2021;11(3):902. 4. Borrego-Ruiz A, et al. Nutrients 2024;16(20):3559. 5. Fusano M. Clinics in Dermatology 2022;41(1):122–6. 6. Riyanto P, et al. Dermatoendocrinol 2015;7(1):e1063751. 7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2004;53(45):1066-8. 8. Toma T et al. Diabetologia 2024; 67(11):2568-84. 9. Karakose E et al. Cell Rep Med. 2024;5(12):101832. 10. Rosselot C et al. Sci Transl Med 2024;16(755):eadg3456 11. American Cancer Society. Colorectal Cancer Survival Rates. 2023. 12. Cerek A et al. N Eng J Med 2022;386(25):2363-2376. 13. Seymour K et al. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2024;1:niae039. 14. Mihaylova MM et al. Cell Stem Cell 2018;22:769-778.e4. 15. Benjamin DI et al. Cell Metab 2022;34:902-918.e6.  16. Chen H et al. Cell. 2025;188(1):157-174.e22. 17. Abdelfattah M et al. Ann Neurol 2025. doi: 10.1002/ana.27170.