Entitled: "Consultation de M矇decins" ("Consultation of Physicians"), cluster of five men shown half-length and with expressions of concern. Color lithograph by Louis-L矇opold Boilly, 1823. A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information between humans, but they also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species.