Wrinkle prevention (Shutterstock photo)
According to the University of California-San Francisco, about 11 million people worldwide have used Botox. It’s one of the most common non-surgical cosmetic procedures available, but smoothing out wrinkles with Botox can cause more problems than you think. A recent study finds that these injections, which many people use on their faces to look younger, change brain activity and can make it harder to recognize emotions.
Scientists warn that forehead injections change the way people’s brains react to faces, making it harder to read expressions and imitate a smile or frown. Botox works by paralyzing muscles. The new findings may have implications for relationships and even friendships, leaving people unable to recognize and properly express emotions.
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“Normally, when we see expressions of emotion, we unconsciously mimic them to help us recognize them,” says lead study author Dr. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos of the University of South Australia.
When our facial muscles copy another person’s frown or smile, they send signals to brain areas such as the amygdala and the fusiform gyrus that interpret the emotions, explains the researcher. Because Botox limits muscle movement, it may disrupt communication between the face and the amygdala and fusiform gyrus.
“You may not be able to experience someone else’s emotions as intensely or vividly as you would like,” adds Dr. Marmolejo-Ramos.
An international team scanned the brains of 10 women aged 33 to 40 before undergoing Botox injections, and again two to three weeks later. In the end the participants were unable to frown or smile with their whole faces.
During fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans, the team looked at images of angry and happy faces interspersed with neutral images. After receiving Botox, volunteers showed different activity in the amygdala when looking at angry and happy faces.
The study found that Botox interfered with the “facial feedback hypothesis,” in which people instinctively mirror facial expressions in an effort to identify and experience the same emotion. The findings in scientific reports add to the evidence that Botox affects a person’s emotional and physical processing.
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