Is fear in the eyes of the beholder?

It might well be. A recent article by Adolphs et al suggests that we recognize fear by focusing on the eyes of the fearful.

A patient, SM, with bilateral amygdala lesions selectively lacks the ability to recognize fearful expressions in others. So, you might think that the amygdala senses fear via
1) selective processing of sensory information by virtue of its neuronal architecture or
2) a selective congnitive deficit that impairs relevant sensory input.

This work, interestingly, suggests that SM's selective deficit lies in her sensory perception. She cannot detect fear because she does not spontaneously look at the subject's eyes while reading facial expressions. But, if prompted to do so, she can actually detect fear.

Adolphs, R. et al. Nature 433, 68–72 (2005)

Questions that follow:
1) Do our abilities to sense facial expressions form a continuum with patients like SM (with lesions) at the extreme ends of a naturally occuring bell curve?
2) Do psychiatric disorders like anxiety or schizophrenia emerge from aberrant emotive perception?
3) Does schizophrenia differ from anxiety in that the former also requires aberrant (and perhaps conscious) post-sensory perception?
4) Do we really differ in how we perceive different emotions when we see the same faces/ expressions?