People who receive facial Botox treatment decrease their wrinkles, but may also reduce their ability to emote.
People who receive facial Botox treatment decrease their wrinkles, but may also reduce their ability to emote.
A side effect of the popular cosmetic injection treatment is frozen muscles, meaning the face doesn't as readily display emotions. But scientists have long thought it also works the other way that facial expressions can also influence the brain about how we feel.
To study if Botox impacts feelings and emotions, researchers located 68 participants who wanted to receive either Botox around their eyes or Restylane around the mouth. The latter was the control group as Restylane, a filler, doesn't freeze muscles and limit expression. Before treatment, they were all shown three types of videos that would evoke a negative reaction, a positive one and a mildly positive response. They rated their emotional reactions according to a scale. Then after treatment, the procedure of rating three videos was repeated.
Compared to the control group, there was a significant decrease from the first to second ratings in how strongly the Botox group felt their emotions. In looking at only the Botox group, the biggest difference between the pre- and post-treatment ratings was in the mildly-positive video category. For that one, the patients had significantly weaker responses after receiving Botox, which limited facial response.
The researchers recommend that people take an informed decision by weighing the pros and cons of Botox before going for such a treatment.
A side effect of the popular cosmetic injection treatment is frozen muscles, meaning the face doesn't as readily display emotions. But scientists have long thought it also works the other way that facial expressions can also influence the brain about how we feel.
To study if Botox impacts feelings and emotions, researchers located 68 participants who wanted to receive either Botox around their eyes or Restylane around the mouth. The latter was the control group as Restylane, a filler, doesn't freeze muscles and limit expression. Before treatment, they were all shown three types of videos that would evoke a negative reaction, a positive one and a mildly positive response. They rated their emotional reactions according to a scale. Then after treatment, the procedure of rating three videos was repeated.
Compared to the control group, there was a significant decrease from the first to second ratings in how strongly the Botox group felt their emotions. In looking at only the Botox group, the biggest difference between the pre- and post-treatment ratings was in the mildly-positive video category. For that one, the patients had significantly weaker responses after receiving Botox, which limited facial response.
The researchers recommend that people take an informed decision by weighing the pros and cons of Botox before going for such a treatment.
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