Botox is known to banish wrinkles and laugh lines, but can it also banish your ability to read other’s emotions?
Research has shown that our own facial expressions are essential to recognising the feelings of others; and botulinum toxin – which reduces wrinkles by temporarily paralysing small muscles in the face – can make it hard to furrow the brow or make other expressions that convey emotion.
The whole premise of the idea is that often one unconsciously mimics another person’s facial expressions, i.e. smiles when smiled at or looks concerned when a friend looks troubled. This process is called “embodied cognition” and is the idea that the body influences the mind, as well as the other way around.
Researchers put this Botox theory to the test, and did so by recruiting women who were already having either Botox treatments or injections of a dermal filler, which plumps up wrinkles but doesn't paralyse muscles. The study participants were shown a series of images that showed people's eyes embodying different emotional states. Study subjects were asked to judge, as quickly as possible, what emotion the eyes conveyed.
The Botox patients scored significantly worse than those who got a dermal filler. That meant the Botox patients' ability to make fast judgments about another person's emotions was blunted.
The study was published online in a paper called: Embodied Emotion Perception: Amplifying and Dampening Facial Feedback Modulates Emotion Perception Accuracy; and ultimately goes on to say that “prolonged use of Botox [could] hobble people's ability to perceive others' emotions and give others empathetic facial feedback.
"Mimicry promotes liking and emotional sharing," the researchers say, "and may contribute to long-term relationship satisfaction."
If you’d like to read more, the full paper can be found here.
