Botox can affect ability to feel emotion

Holly Enriquez

Monday, June 28, 2010

Botox, popular with Hollywood celebrities may affect our ability to feel emotion

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In the study, researchers showed people emotionally charged videos, before and after they were injected with Botox or Restylane (a "filler" which doesn't freeze muscle movement).

The Botox group "exhibited an overall significant decrease in the strength of emotional experience," researchers wrote in the June issue of the journal Emotion.

In particular, the Botox group responded less strongly to positive clips after they had the injections than before.

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"With Botox, a person can respond otherwise normally to an emotional event, eg: a sad movie scene, but will have less movement in the facial muscles that have been injected, and therefore less feedback to the brain about such facial expressivity," study co-author Professor Joshua Davis said in a media release.

"It thus allows for a test of whether facial expressions and the sensory feedback from them to the brain can influence our emotions."

The researchers said this study supports the theory that suggests feedback from facial expressions to the brain can influence our mood.

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Your say: Have you had, or would you consider, Botox?

User reviews

The 'facial feedback' hypothesis is already well supported by evidence so these conclusions are quite intuitive. However, facial feedback isn't the whole story e.g. postural feedback is also important for the strengthening of emotional response - although not as fine tuned as facial expression. People who retort that, despite botox, they can still perform facial expressions and feel emotions have obviously missed the point. Similarly, people who confuse 'affect' for 'determine' are misleading themselves. Emotional contagion and feedback is fairly well established. See - Silvan Tomkins, Paul Ekman, John Cacioppo, Elaine Hatfield etc. It's a pretty convincing case. I wouldn't have botox nor consider it but I don't mind if other people want to give it a go. Still, that really has no bearing on whether the facial feedback hypothesis is valid. It is.

their face, their skin. not my right to judge. good for them if it makes them happy. injecting stiff under skin for vanity makes me queasy. better to just age gracefully i think.

LOL. Do you women actually realise what that dose to your features. So many women do this now and I cannot understand why. Before and after pic are amazing what it shows is that you are far more beautiful without it. Amazing natural features etc. Especially Nicole Kidman. OMG she has done herself an injustice.

It looks like ppl are getting it wrong!! Its not about having no emotion its that it is decreased from botox Just live with it looks like it is fact!!! and i can easily see why

yes i have much botox in my face iam 40 and i look 25 xxxxx

I agree with this article entirely. I have had botox many times and have secretly noticed the change in my feeling of emotions, it is not until now i realise it could be because of the injections.Not saying its complelety accurate but its food for thought thats for sure.

As a 39 year old woman, scraping through getting a second chance at life this year after surviving advanced cervical cancer, I couldn't give a *** about ageing. In fact, what an honourable privilege if I continue to indeed get the chance.

Injecting botox is like injecting no more gaps isn't it??? Just like gaps - the cracks will only appear again and more filler will be required!

botox is fine when your aging, i personally wouldnt do it yet im 40 may try at 45 to 50, but where i do my hair lazer removal i cant believe all the girls there do botox and they are only 21 to 24 years old, 3 of the girls i ask as to why, they said as a preventative, bloody hell im 40 no wrinkles yet and was a big sunbaker and smoker since 16, These doctors who work at these centres putting *** into young girls heads and taking their money like that need a slap on the face

Botox doesn't make you beautiful, you have to be beautiful to begin with. All you vain people out there need to get a grip . If you need an injection in your face to help you feel good then you are all very sad individuals indeed.

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