Interesting Fact of the Month, Part 1

People who have had Botox injections are less able to decipher the facial expressions (and thus, the moods or emotions) of others.

Research has shown that simply moving the muscles in the face that result in facial expressions that correspond with certain emotions results in the actual sensation of experiencing the emotion. For instance, if you force yourself to smile, the action itself causes stimulation in the brain in the same areas as when you actually experience the emotion of happiness.

Further research has shown that humans subconsciously mimic the facial expressions of other humans in their line of sight, suggesting that this is a mechanism for people to empathize with the moods of others before interacting with them.

People who have had Botox injections are less likely to interpret the moods of people in photographs than are people who have not had the injections, as they are less able to move the
muscles in the face.