We smile just because we’re happy and frown when we’re angry or sad. Or do we? Evidence is mounting to suggest we can “trick” our brains into a more positive outlook or out of a negative one by consciously controlling our facial expressions.
While it’s sometimes hard to control our emotions, it’s much easier to control our muscles.
Scientists have long believed that our emotions are reinforced – perhaps even driven – by their corresponding facial expressions, known in psychology as the facial feedback hypothesis. Ergo, if we force a smile when we’re down, we will actually start to feel happier.
The theory is that if we cannot physically frown, the brain feels there may be less to frown about – the psychological equivalent of the old song “when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you”.
Botox Research
A recent spate of studies on Botox recipients have given further weight to the argument that the brain can be “tricked” into a better mood.
Psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is compromised by muscle-relaxant injections such as Botox are happier, on average, than people who can frown.
The researchers administered an anxiety and depression questionnaire to 25 women, half of whom had received Botox. The Botox recipients reported feeling happier and less anxious in general.
Significantly, they did not report feeling any more attractive, which suggests that the emotional effects were not driven by a psychological boost that could come from the treatment’s cosmetic nature.
`It would appear that the way we feel emotions isn’t just restricted to our brain – there are parts of our bodies that help and reinforce the feelings we’re having,’ says Michael Lewis, a co-author of the study. `It’s like a feedback loop.’
In a related study, scientists at the Technical University of Munich in Germany scanned Botox recipients with MRI machines while asking them to mimic angry faces.
They found that the Botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits involved in emotional processing and responses (the amygdala, hypothalå_amus and parts of the brain stem) as compared with others who had not received treatment.
The concept works in reverse, too. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain.
Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure.
Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups.
`It’s possible that people may feel less pain if they’re unable to express it,’ adds Michael Lewis (who was not involved in the latter study).
However, having Botox in the lower part of your face (as is becoming increasingly popular) can prevent a smile and have the opposite effect, according to research conducted by New York’s Barnard College.
So … how can you consciously make yourself feel happier? Flex your zygomatic major muscle. Smile, that is.
Your brain will intrepret it as `Oh, I must be happy about something.’ In addition to the direct feedback inside your head, in the outside world you also get the added advantage of social feedback.
Smiles are infectious, so people around you are more likely to smile and that can improve your mood too – as well as your popularity!
While the zygomatic major controls the corners of your mouth, there is a muscle at the corner of the eyes called the orbicularis oculi that only flexes when you’re actually smiling a real smile.
If you really want to get the biggest facial feedback benefit, use those orbicularis oculis as well to generate a true smile. This is also a great tip for becoming more photogenic. The reason many people think their smiles look fake in pictures is because their smiles are fake. The corners of their eyes are not flexed.
