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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Study of Nervous System > "Fake smile" makes people happier! Nature: Facial muscle movements can trick the brain into making it feel like you're happy

    "Fake smile" makes people happier! Nature: Facial muscle movements can trick the brain into making it feel like you're happy

    • Last Update: 2022-11-15
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Introduction: "Fake smile" makes people happier? Recently, research has shown that the facial feedback hypothesis believes that an individual's subjective emotional experience is affected
    by his facial expressions.
    Facial muscle movements can trick the brain into feeling like you're "smiling," and you'll become more motivated and happier
    as a result.


    On October 20, a paper published in Nature Human Behaviour titled "A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by.
    " The Many Smiles
    Collaboration's research shows that if you smile regularly, whether it comes from the heart or not, you will feel very happy (Figure 1).

    According to the theory of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis states that an individual's subjective emotional experience is influenced
    by his facial expressions.
    Data from 3,878 participants in 19 countries showed that both facial imitation and voluntary facial movements could inspire feelings of well-being
    .

     

    Figure 1 Research results (Source: Nature Human Behaviour).


    The study was led by Stanford University in collaboration with Florida State University and the University of South Australia
    .
    The study, which collected data from 3,878 participants from 19 countries, assessed whether people's subjective emotional experiences were influenced by facial expressions and found that those who mimicked a smile photo or held their mouth close to their ears had significantly increased
    happiness.

    The facial feedback hypothesis states that an individual's emotional experience is influenced
    by his or her facial expressions.
    For example, smiling usually makes people feel happier, while frowning makes people feel sadder
    .
    These effects occur because facial expressions provide sensory feedback that helps to generate emotions that are used to understand ongoing emotional feelings and influence the processing
    of other physical responses or emotional stimuli related to emotions.
    The facial feedback hypothesis is of great interest because it supports the broader theory that emotional experience is influenced
    by feedback from the peripheral nervous system.
    In addition, this hypothesis supports facial feedback interventions, such as smiling more or frowning less, to help manage pain and improve well-being
    .

    The study replicates the results of a previous "hidden smile" experiment by assessing how people interpret a range of facial expressions, from frown to smile, and extends the study
    with moving images of light spots as visual stimuli.
    In the experiment, participants read humorous caricatures with a pen in their mouths, forcing their facial muscles to mimic the action of smiling, thereby inducing a "smile" (Figure 2).


    Figure 2 The research process (Source: Nature Human Behaviour)
    Consistent with the facial feedback hypothesis, smiling participants reported that they found comics more interesting
    。 Participants in this mouth-and-pencil study were probably unaware they were smiling, and the trial concluded: The facial feedback effect was not driven by demand traits and could occur outside
    of consciousness.
    In this experiment, the researchers replicated a previous study to show that this modulating effect was also observed to identify physical states
    .
    In two studies, researchers observed the use of moving images of light spots to identify emotions and facial deformation stimuli
    as subjects clenched their teeth against the pen.

    The results of the study showed that when subjects had a pen in their teeth, the former tended to lower the perceived threshold
    of pleasure in facial stimulation compared with the "no pen".
    Therefore, the results of this experiment are consistent
    with the results of previous experiments.
    The same result was found in the second experiment, in which subjects lowered their threshold
    for perceived pleasure compared to "without a pen.
    "

    The above results suggest that facial muscle activity not only changes the perception of facial expressions, but also changes physical expression, resulting in more positive emotions
    .
    Dr Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, lead researcher in artificial cognition, said: "When your muscles suggest you want to be happy, you see the world
    around you in a positive way.
    When forcing yourself to practice smiling, the amygdala, the brain's emotional center, is stimulated, releasing neurotransmitters that encourage people to enter a positive emotional state
    .
    This is an interesting hint for mental health, and if we can trick the brain into making it perceive stimulation as 'pleasure', then the body has the potential to use this mechanism to promote mental health
    .



    Written by| Qiao Weijun

    Typesetting| Muzijiu

    End

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