Researchers at the University of California investigated the relationship between Botox injections in the forehead and the way the brain interprets and processes other people's emotions.
Botox, or botulinum toxin, is often used to minimize frown lines on the forehead. Lines and wrinkles are formed due to repetitive contraction of facial muscles over time.
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Thus, Botox reduces muscle activity in the treated area, causing expression lines to smooth out. This can modify people's perception of emotions.
The experiment was carried out by a group of ten female participants, each aged between 33 and 40 years. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions were performed for research – one before and another two weeks after receiving a botox injection.
In the study, participants were shown pictures of happy, sad faces and neutral expressions. During the procedure, a small amount of Botox is injected at strategic points on the forehead, usually by a trained dermatologist or plastic surgeon.
Thus, after undergoing the aesthetic procedure, they showed signs of change in the amygdala – the organ responsible for emotional processing – when seeing happy and angry faces.
In addition, the fusiform gyrus (brain region linked to recognition) also changed when they looked at the happy faces after the applications.
With that came “facial feedback,” which showed that when we see an expression of anger or happiness on the face of another person, we flex or contract the muscles of our own face to simulate the expression, being a process unconscious.
As such, it is believed that this not only interferes with our ability to identify other people's emotional states, but also to experience them ourselves.
According to the researchers, there is much more to explore about the role of facial feedback in the activity of the amygdala, as well as other regions involved in the neuroanatomical circuitry for processing faces emotional.
In summary, “Avoiding brow furrowing through botox injections inhibits the way the brain processes emotional faces,” according to a study.
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