In Your Face - Mind Field (Ep 7)

Summary

This video explores the significance of facial expressions in human communication and emotions. It delves into how forced expressions can influence feelings, the universality of expressions like smiles across cultures, and the role of facial feedback in mood. The script also discusses the impact of Botox on emotional recognition and introduces a technology that enhances the perception of emotional cues through color changes in the face. The show concludes by emphasizing the enduring importance of facial expressions in our social interactions.

Takeaways

• 😀 Faces are crucial for human communication, and we often identify people by their faces rather than other body parts.
• 😐 The ability to make facial expressions can influence our moods; studies suggest that even forced expressions can affect emotional states.
• 🤔 The connection between facial expressions and emotions is complex, with historical research dating back to Darwin and Duchenne.
• 🐶 An experiment involving holding a pencil in the mouth to simulate smiling or frowning suggests that facial posture can impact daily experiences.
• 🧪 A study with volunteers found that those who were made to smile rated tasks more favorably than those who were made to frown.
• 🤨 Facial mirroring, or the subconscious imitation of others' expressions, plays a role in empathy and understanding others' emotions.
• 💉 Botox, which can limit facial movement, may also limit the ability to read emotions in others, as suggested by a recognition test before and after Botox treatment.
• 👥 Even those who are blind from birth naturally exhibit facial expressions and can learn to interpret others' expressions through auditory cues.
• 🔍 Advances in technology, such as glasses that enhance color perception related to blood flow, could potentially improve our ability to read facial expressions.
• 🧠 The recognition and expression of emotions through faces are deeply ingrained in human nature and are likely to remain significant for communication.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the discussion in the script?

The main focus of the discussion is the importance of facial expressions in human communication and how they can influence our emotions and perception of others' emotions.

How does the script suggest that facial expressions may affect our emotions?

The script suggests that forcing a facial expression, such as smiling or frowning, can change the way we feel by providing examples of studies where participants who held a pencil in a way that mimicked smiling reported having a better day.

What is the significance of being able to see our own facial expressions?

The ability to see our own facial expressions provides instant feedback on the degree to which we are altering our face and informs us of the expression we are conveying to the world, which can influence our mood and interactions.

What historical figures are mentioned in the script in relation to studies on facial expressions?

The script mentions Charles Darwin and French neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne as historical figures who conducted early research on facial expressions and their impact on emotions.

How does the script explore the connection between facial expressions and emotions?

The script explores this connection through experiments involving participants unknowingly forced into smiling or frowning while performing tasks, and observing how these facial expressions affect their enjoyment and perception of the tasks.

What role do the participants' facial expressions play in the experiment with puppies and dog feces?

In the experiment, participants' facial expressions are manipulated to smile or frown while they perform tasks involving puppies and dog feces. The script suggests that those who were forced to smile enjoyed the tasks more, while those who frowned enjoyed them less.

How does the script address the debate on whether facial expressions can influence emotions?

The script acknowledges the debate by presenting both the experimental findings that suggest a correlation between facial expressions and emotions, and the fact that other studies have failed to reproduce these findings, emphasizing that science is about reducing uncertainty.

What is facial mirroring and why is it important?

Facial mirroring is the subconscious imitation of others' facial expressions, which helps us communicate empathy and understanding. The script suggests that the ability to mirror facial expressions is crucial for interpreting emotions in others.

How does the script discuss the impact of Botox on facial expressions and emotion recognition?

The script discusses the impact of Botox by showing how it can limit facial expressions and potentially affect the ability to recognize emotions in others, as Botox injections can prevent the natural mirroring of expressions.

What is the script's conclusion on the importance of facial expressions in human interaction?

The script concludes that facial expressions are vital for human communication and understanding, and that even with technological advancements or cosmetic procedures, our ability to read and use facial expressions remains significant.

Outlines

00:00

😀 The Power of Facial Expressions

This paragraph delves into the significance of facial expressions in human communication, emphasizing how faces are crucial for conveying emotions. It introduces the concept that facial expressions can influence our moods, supported by historical studies from Charles Darwin and Duchenne de Boulogne. The discussion includes an experiment where participants unknowingly adopt smiling or frowning expressions while performing tasks, suggesting that these expressions can subconsciously affect their enjoyment and perception of the tasks.

05:01

😌 Smiling vs. Frowning: Impact on Task Enjoyment

The second paragraph describes an experiment where volunteers, believing they are part of an allergy study, are tasked with puppy herding and analyzing dog feces. Unbeknownst to them, half are prompted to smile, while the other half to frown. The outcome indicates that those who smiled rated the tasks more favorably, suggesting that facial expressions can significantly alter one's experience and perception of a task.

10:02

🤔 The Debate on Facial Feedback

This section discusses the ongoing debate about the facial feedback hypothesis, which proposes that facial expressions can influence emotions. It mentions that while some studies support this idea, others have failed to reproduce these findings. The conversation includes an interview with a congenitally blind man who naturally uses facial expressions and discusses the innate and learned aspects of these expressions.

15:04

💉 Botox and Emotional Recognition

The fourth paragraph explores the impact of Botox on facial expressions and emotional recognition. It describes a scenario where participants receive Botox injections, which temporarily paralyze facial muscles, and then take a test to identify emotions from pictures of eyes. The expectation is that the Botox will hinder their ability to mirror and recognize facial expressions, potentially affecting their test performance.

20:06

🕵️‍♂️ Enhancing Emotion Perception with Technology

The final paragraph introduces a technological approach to enhance the perception of facial expressions and emotions. It features a discussion with Mark Changizi, who explains how blood flow and color changes in the face correlate with different emotions. He presents special glasses that can help detect these subtle color changes, potentially improving the user's ability to read emotions. The segment concludes with a humorous suggestion to use a pencil as a makeshift tool to experience the show's content differently.

Keywords

💡Facial Expressions

Facial expressions are the movements of the face, typically involving the muscles around the eyes and mouth, that convey emotions or reactions. In the video, facial expressions are central to understanding how our faces communicate emotions. The script explores how forcing a facial expression, such as smiling or frowning, can influence one's mood, as seen in the experiment where participants unknowingly smiled while holding a pencil in their teeth, potentially leading to a better day.

💡Emotion

Emotion refers to a person's psychological and physiological state resulting from an intense mental or physical experience. The video script delves into the connection between emotions and facial expressions, questioning whether the emotion or the facial expression comes first. It cites studies that suggest that manipulating facial expressions can alter emotional states, as in the case of holding a pencil to induce a smile.

💡Feedback

Feedback in this context refers to the process by which the body responds to its own actions or expressions, which can in turn influence emotions. The script mentions 'facial feedback' as a concept where making certain facial expressions can provide instant feedback to the brain, potentially altering one's emotional state. This is exemplified in the video through experiments where facial expressions are manipulated to test their effect on mood.

💡Mirroring

Mirroring, in the context of the video, refers to the subconscious imitation of another person's facial expressions, which is a form of nonverbal communication that can foster empathy and understanding. The script discusses 'facial mirroring' and how it begins in infancy and continues throughout life, suggesting that the ability to mirror facial expressions is linked to the capacity to recognize emotions in others.

💡Botox

Botox is a commercial name for botulinum toxin, a neurotoxin that, when injected in small amounts, can temporarily paralyze muscles responsible for creating wrinkles. The video script explores the use of Botox to understand if limiting facial expressions through muscle paralysis affects the ability to recognize emotions in others. It presents a scenario where participants receive Botox injections to test its impact on their emotional recognition abilities.

💡Communication

Communication in the video refers to the exchange of information, ideas, or emotions through various methods, including facial expressions. The script highlights that before the development of language, facial expressions may have been as crucial as verbal communication. It emphasizes the universality of facial expressions across different cultures and languages, suggesting their fundamental role in human interaction.

💡Duchenne de Boulogne

Duchenne de Boulogne was a French neurologist who conducted early research on the relationship between facial expressions and emotions. The video script references his work, along with that of Charles Darwin, to underscore the historical interest in understanding how physiology, particularly facial expressions, affects mood.

💡Reproducibility

Reproducibility in the context of the video refers to the ability of scientific studies to be repeated and yield the same results. The script mentions the Reproducibility Project and its lead researcher, Brian Nosek, to highlight the importance of not relying on a single study's findings but instead aiming to reduce uncertainty through repeated testing, which is relevant to the mixed results found in studies on facial expressions and emotions.

💡Blindness

Blindness is the state of not being able to see, and the video script includes a discussion with a man who has been blind since birth. This part of the script explores how someone without sight can understand and use facial expressions, indicating that the ability to express emotions facially is innate, but the imitation and recognition of expressions may require additional learning or adaptation.

💡Color and Emotion

The video script introduces the concept that subtle changes in facial color due to blood flow can correlate with different emotions. It mentions how increased oxygenation can make the face appear redder, which might indicate anger, while a greenish hue could suggest sadness. The script also discusses a tool developed by Mark Changizi that enhances the visibility of these color changes to potentially improve the perception of emotions.

Highlights

The importance of faces in human communication is emphasized, suggesting that a closeup of an elbow wouldn't convey the same identity as a face.

A study is proposed to test whether forcing a facial expression can alter an individual's mood.

The experiment hypothesizes that the inability to make facial expressions could affect the perception of others' emotions.

The program explores the evolutionary significance of facial expressions in communication, even before the development of language.

Facial expressions are suggested to be a universal language, with smiles and frowns being recognized across cultures.

The role of self-perception of facial expressions is discussed, and how our deep-set eyes allow us to see our own expressions.

Historic and present-day studies on the correlation between facial expressions and emotions are mentioned, including early work by Charles Darwin.

An experiment is conducted with volunteers to test whether holding a pencil in a certain way can influence their mood.

The concept of facial feedback is introduced, questioning whether facial expressions can subconsciously affect emotions.

A live test is described where participants' facial expressions are manipulated to see if it affects their enjoyment of tasks.

The experiment finds that participants who were forced to smile rated tasks more favorably than those who frowned.

The debate on the facial feedback hypothesis is mentioned, with some studies failing to reproduce the findings.

The program discusses how facial expressions are innate and how a blind man learned to mimic them.

The concept of facial mirroring is introduced, explaining how it helps in understanding others' emotions.

An experiment is proposed to test whether Botox, which limits facial movement, affects the ability to recognize facial expressions.

The impact of Botox on facial expression recognition is tested, with results suggesting it may hinder the identification of negative emotions.

The program concludes by discussing the enduring importance of facial expressions in human interaction and the potential of technology to enhance their reading.

Transcripts

- If I asked you to show me a picture of your mother,

you wouldn't show me a, uh, closeup shot of her elbow.

But you could, and you'd be right.

That would be a photo of her,

but it wouldn't feel right because it's not her face.

That's how important faces are to us.

We're going to see if forcing a facial expression

can change the way we feel.

- Are you comfortable handling dog feces?

Okay.

- And if you remove the ability

to make facial expressions,

will it affect how you perceive emotions in others?

- What? - No.

- How could that--that--no.

- I don't think so.

- And what are we saying by raising an eyebrow?

Do you know?

[electronic music]

♪ ♪

Why does doing this make me look angry?

And why does doing this make me look so happy?

Where does all this stuff come from?

When it comes to interpersonal communication,

it's easy to think that speech dominates,

but yet, we have hairless faces.

That's very unique among mammals

that are easy to see expressions on.

Facial expressions are shared across humanity.

A smile is a smile in any language.

Our faces seem uniquely adapted for communication.

Before we developed language, facial expressions

may have been just as vital in communication

as shouts and grunts.

And we, of course, still use them today.

But when it comes to facial expressions,

it's not just about seeing other people's expressions

and having them see yours.

It's also about seeing your own.

And the fact that our eyes are deep-set

allows us to see our own facial expressions

as we're making them.

If you smile, you can see

your own cheeks rise slightly.

And if you furrow your brow,

it encroaches on the top of your vision.

These things give you instant feedback

on the degree to which you are altering your face

and tell you instantly what sort of expression

you are putting out into the world.

No mirror required.

♪ ♪

Some of the most interesting experiments

on facial expressions have asked, "What comes first?

The emotion or the facial expression?"

Studies have found that if you hold a pencil

between your teeth all day, you will have a better day.

Why? Well, because holding a pencil

between your teeth without your lips touching

is like smiling.

It uses pretty much the same muscles.

Watch.

[muffled] I don't know--

I don't know I'm smiling, but I am.

Conversely, pursing your lips around the pencil

is like frowning.

And studies have found that if someone does that,

they will actually report having a less good day.

Well, we're gonna put that to the test

and find out if the facial contortions you make

can subconsciously affect how you feel.

Studies on how physiology affects mood

go as far back as the 1800s,

with early research carried out by Charles Darwin

and French neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne.

This work has continued into present day

using various techniques to create smiles and frowns.

But studies have been inconsistent

as to whether facial expressions

can influence emotions, so we wanted to see

if we could demonstrate a correlation between the two.

♪ ♪

Hi. - Hi.

- Come on in, guys. Chris, my name is Michael.

Nice to meet you. My name is Michael.

We've recruited 20 volunteers

who think they're taking part in an allergy study.

Today we are testing a new kind of dog food,

and it actually seems to help dogs produce fewer allergens,

so people who are allergic to dogs

might be more comfortable around them.

And we're going to be using these allergen sticks.

Now, the purpose of this stick is to collect saliva

to check the way your body reacts

to possible allergens in the air.

Put it between your teeth like that, okay?

- Mm-hmm. - Okay.

- Half of our participants will be unknowingly forced

into a smile.

Yeah, very simple. - Uh-huh.

- The other half will unwittingly be forced

to use their frown muscles.

Watch. My teeth are together,

and then--hmm.

Got it? both: Mm-hmm.

- We're gonna give the frowners

and the smilers the same two tasks.

Go ahead, and I'll see you guys soon.

Will the people who were forced to frown

rank each task lower than those made to smile?

- Come on in.

- To test their levels of happiness,

our actor, Trin, gave our subjects a task

everybody loves: puppy herding

with lots and lots of puppies.

First up are our smilers.

- They're all wearing little tags.

- Mm-hmm. - So your job is to line them up

in alphabetical order. Once you got 'em all lined up,

I'll snap a photo of you. - Okay.

- And you got three minutes to do it.

Starting now. - Hello. I know.

- Make sure they're in alphabetical order.

- They're naming the dogs.

- She's having fun.

- I just got the--oh! Don't go away.

- [laughs]

- Swap those two.

- You got one minute left.

- This looks like fun,

but are they having even more fun

because they're being forced to smile?

- All right, get ready for the photo.

[camera shutter clicks]

- Our smilers are laughing

and goofing around. - Fantastic.

- Now, let's see how our frowners react

to this fun task.

- Three minutes. - [humming]

- He's running away from you. - [groans]

- The question is, will frowning emphasize

the parts that aren't fun-- in your mind, at least.

[dogs barking]

- Oh, we lost F.

Got one little strangler right over here.

- Ugh! - If the frowners seem

a bit frustrated herding puppies...

- [mutters angrily] - How will they like

their next task?

- If you would each grab a pair of gloves.

Are you comfortable handling dog feces?

Okay. And we're also going to be

looking at whether there are any protein deposits

that have collected, um, in the fecal matter.

- She's like, "Are you serious?"

- So go ahead and spread it out on the table.

- [stifled retching] - Ooh.

Not happy.

- And what you're looking for are small, hard deposits.

- Not much indication that there's a smile

trying to come through.

- Hmm. - Okay, great.

- [exhales] - Thank you, that'll do it.

- Our frowners don't seem

to be enjoying this assignment.

Will the smilers have a different reaction?

- Grab a pair of gloves.

It may be easier to kind of smear it and spread it out.

- The hypothesis is, that by smiling,

they'll focus more on the funny aspects

of what they're about to do.

- [laughs] Yeah. - Oh, my God.

- [laughs]

[groans] Oh.

- There's disgust in his eyes and his brow,

but his mouth can't help but smile.

- [chuckles] - Okay, great, guys.

Thank you so much. Then, when you're ready,

just follow me and we'll do a debrief with Mr. Stevens.

- Okay. - Sure.

- Hey, welcome back.

Now, think about, um,

organizing the puppies and taking a photo of them.

- Mmm. - And how you felt.

Tell me what you were thinking

and feeling while you were doing that task.

- I mean, the puppies are extremely cute.

- Mm-hmm. - Can I keep one?

Is it cool with you guys?

- The dogs actually cooperated pretty well.

- Mm-hmm? - I was able

to put them in order.

- They're amazing.

- It wasn't stressful.

- So on a scale of 1 to 10--

where 1 is you cannot tolerate it

and 10, best day of your life--

how would you rank the puppy photo task?

- I'm gonna say like a 9.

- 10. - 8.

- 8. - I'm gonna go with an 8.

- A 9.

- That's an average of 8.5

from our small sample of ten subjects

who were forced to smile during the photo assignment.

Now let's see how the frowners rated the same task.

How did you feel while you were doing that?

- Um, a little frustrated, to be honest with you,

'cause they kept moving around.

- Well, it was difficult getting them to stay in place

and put them in order.

- How would you rank the photo taking task?

- Mmm, 4. - About 4.

- A 10. I love puppies.

- Still a 10? - Yeah, me too.

- I would go more on the middle ground,

maybe like 5.

- Many of the frowners reported

feeling frustrated with this experience,

tallying an average score of 7.4,

more than a point lower than the smilers.

Now let's talk about the poop checking job.

- Very unpleasant. - It was disgusting.

- How would you rank the poop checking task?

- 1--it was a 1. - A 1?

- It was for sure a 1. - 1.

- A 4. - Is a zero possible?

- Our frowning subjects

averaged a low score of 1.9.

The question is,

did our smiling group feel

any better about digging

through poo?

- It wasn't too uncomfortable.

- It was sort of unexpected, but it wasn't like it bothered me.

- I wasn't, like, disgusted like, "Ew! This is disgusting!"

I just kind of held my breath.

- Many of our smilers reported this unpleasant task

as being no big deal or actually funny.

- I'd say a 5 because it wasn't--

neither here nor there for me.

- It was a 5. - A high 4.

- 5, I guess. - A 5? Okay.

- 5, right in the middle.

- The average score

for the smiling group

was 4.3 out of 10.

Smilers enjoyed sifting through poop

an average of 2 1/2 points more than our frowners.

And have a great day. - Have fun with your poop.

- [laughs] I will.

I always do.

♪ ♪

Our test found that people who made smile faces

enjoyed tasks more, and those who frowned

enjoyed them less.

This facial feedback concept

is still being debated though.

And other studies have recently failed

to reproduce these findings.

But it's a very healthy thing that we don't just look

at one test and say, "Well, that's it.

That must be the truth. We're done."

In the words of Brian Nosek, lead researcher

of the Reproducibility Project,

science isn't about truth and falsity.

It's about reducing uncertainty.

Facial expressions are so important

to human communication that people develop ways

to read your face even if they can't see it.

Tommy, thanks for coming to visit.

- Thanks for having me.

I love what you've done with the place.

- Hey, thank you so much. - [laughs]

- What I would like to talk about

is facial expressions.

- All right, sir. - 'Cause, Tommy,

you have been blind since you were born.

- That's right.

- How did you learn about facial expressions?

'Cause you make them. You smile.

You--I've never seen you mad, but I bet if you get mad...

- Yeah. - You--I can tell.

- Yeah. When I'm laughing, I smile, right?

It just comes naturally. - So that part's innate.

- That part is innate. Absolutely it is, no question.

But in order to imitate it, that was the tricky part for me.

Right? 'Cause sometimes I'd smile, like, too much.

You know, like that. I don't know.

Like, I feel like that's pushing it too hard.

That's not really natural. But, you know, so it's probably

somewhere around here, I guess.

- So could you make an angry face for me right now?

That's close, but do you think

if you'd seen an angry face it would be easier to fake one?

- Yes, I think so. - Let me ask you this.

Can you tell what facial expression I'm making?

- Well, when you're smiling, I can hear it in your voice.

- Right. - Right? It's very obvious.

'Cause when you smile, your lips don't really touch

the right way, so letters like M and B and P, for example,

you know, they sound just a little bit different.

- Right. So it sounds like you know more

about how a smile affects speech than most sighted people would.

- Thank you. There's a lot of audible clues

that help me to get the facial expression.

- Well, Tommy, thank you so much for coming in.

I love having guests in my home.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

When we look at other people's faces,

we often subconsciously imitate their facial expressions.

It's called facial mirroring.

And it's a way for us to let other people know

we understand them, that we feel the same things that they feel.

Facial mirroring begins in infancy

and continuous throughout our lives.

Studies have shown that if you can't facially mirror,

if you can't express things with your own face,

you actually have trouble understanding

what other people's faces are expressing.

So to try that out,

let's hinder some people's facial muscles.

What's a good way to do that?

Well, how about a dose of botulinum toxin?

♪ ♪

We have gathered a group of volunteers

for a facial expression recognition experiment.

Thank you all for coming in today.

We're going to begin with a test.

A test of your ability to recognize

facial expressions.

Our participants will be shown pictures of eyes

expressing either positive or negative emotions.

Your task is to look at each face and to decide

which of those four emotions the face is expressing.

Makes sense?

Each photo is designed to display

one standard emotion that is known to elicit

an established consensus.

For example, in this photo,

what emotion would you identify?

If you said, "terrified,"

you'd be in the majority.

Now it's our participant's turn.

Okay, everyone ready? - Mm-hmm.

- Go.

[device beeping]

All right, moving on to number 2.

For most people, this is a simple task

that should come with a relatively high success rate.

All right, card number 6... Number 9...

Number 13... 19...

Our 12 volunteers will give us an idea

of how well the average person identifies emotions.

And 25.

All right, everyone. Great work.

I hope you had fun. Thank you for your time.

After 25 cards, our participants were able

to identify the correct positive emotion

77% of the time, and the correct negative emotion

78.8% of the time.

But how well will they do if we stop them

from mirroring the expressions they see...

[cap pops]

By freezing their faces with botox?

We forced all of these participants

to receive Botox injections.

- How are you? - I'm good.

I'm Dr. Ali. Nice to meet you.

- Just kidding. They were gonna do it anyway,

and they let us tag along in the name of science.

- What areas were you looking to get done?

- Um, I'd like to do this area. - Okay, okay.

- I would like to fix this part between my two eyebrows,

because I feel like-- I don't know.

I just look older and grumpy.

- Although we communicate a ton of information

with our faces, in the interest of looking younger,

many people pay to be injected with a chemical

that essentially renders our faces mute,

or rather, gives us a sort of facial speech impediment.

Botox was first used in the 1970s

to treat muscular eye disorders like crossed eyes

and uncontrollable blinking.

The FDA didn't approve the use of Botox

for cosmetic procedures until 2002.

The active ingredient in Botox is a toxin

produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.

This toxin can cause botulism in larger amounts,

but in smaller amounts when injected into, say,

the wrinkles between your eyebrows or around your mouth,

the toxin blocks the nerves from delivering signals

to the facial muscles, telling them to contract.

[bell tings]

- Pull your hair back a little bit...

- Yes. - And then tell me what areas

you were thinking of getting it done.

- So I was thinking here,

'cause I have a couple wrinkles

that are starting to show. - Okay.

- I'm 31 years old,

and I want to get Botox because I want to look young forever.

- Common expressions that people want to get rid of

is the angry lines, the furrows we get in between the eyes.

And the horizontal wrinkles we get in our forehead,

that will go away. - If the Botox procedure

prevents these patients from being able to mirror

the facial expressions of others,

will it also impede their ability to recognize

the emotions associated with those expressions?

- Have you had Botox before? - I never have.

- Do you wanna touch everything? - If we can, yeah.

- Yeah, definitely. - Awesome.

I think Botox is probably going to change my expressions

and I might have to overdo them a little bit,

but I already do that anyway,

so I think that it won't matter so much.

- You doing okay? - Mm-hmm.

- We'll soon explore whether paralyzing

their facial muscles affects how these patients score

on the facial recognition test.

- You may not see the results for at least

three to seven days. - Oh, yeah. Okay.

- We'll check back in with our subjects in two weeks

after they've settled into their new,

expression-free faces.

In the meantime, let's meet two people

who've had modified faces for quite a while.

Lacy, Justin, welcome. - Hi.

- Hi. How are you? - Hi.

- Great to see you guys. - Hi.

It's nice to meet you. - Thanks for coming over.

- How are you? - Good to see you.

So, I'm so thrilled to have both of you here.

How does it feel to be known

as the Ken and Barbie of real life?

- I don't know--the world just pinned me as that,

and then I happened to meet my best bestie

that is Ken. - And what about you?

Did you intend to be like a Ken doll or...?

- No. I mean, initially-- initially this all had to do

with the passion that I had for, like, body sculpture, right?

I just did what I loved, and I saw this as a medium

to be--to be creative, to be open,

to be expressive, and to be different,

right, to set myself apart.

So I'm the first person in the world to have

three-piece shoulder implants.

We are the first people to try that, right?

We're own guinea pigs. We're our own--

- We create them. - We're our own

Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein, right?

- Okay, so have both of you had Botox done?

- Absolutely. - Every--every three months

since I've been 25 years old.

- How has Botox or other procedures on your face

affected your ability to make facial expressions?

- I waited a year to have it this year so I could actually

see a little bit of my own face, because my kids are like,

"Mom, you know, we can't really tell if you're mad at us.

You always look like you're surprised."

I'm, like, walking around the house like this.

I'm like, "Ohh!"

So I haven't had Botox in a year

just because I wanted to be able to do this.

"Go to your room!" No. - Interesting.

Do you feel like you've lost something

by not being able to show when you're mad?

- I don't know what you're talking about.

- Well, when you look at me now, you can tell I'm smiling.

I just don't have the lines here.

It's a bit of a subtle change.

- Have you noticed Botox affecting your ability

to read other people's facial expressions?

- What? - No.

- How could that--that--no.

- My answer would be no. - No. It's actually--

- You haven't noticed that? - Not at all.

[laughter]

- Barbie and Ken may not ascribe

to the facial mirroring theory,

but let's check back with our Botox recipients.

It's been two weeks, and now they've brought

their wrinkle-free faces back

to see if their limited expressions

will affect their ability to read emotions.

So, to refresh you on the rules: look at the eyes,

determine what emotion is being conveyed,

write down your answer,

and then we'll move on to the next one.

Go.

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- My face feels a lot more relaxed.

And it's--it's kind of nice.

- Okay, slide number 9. [device beeps]

- When I look at people,

they don't really know that I'm angry.

- I actually can't.

- I did have a friend-- um, she noticed.

She gets Botox too, and she was like,

"Your Botox looks amazing."

- If I'm angry, probably how you would know

is by my eye contact with you.

- Because I can't move my forehead.

- This subject has definitely limited her ability

to make a facial expression,

as have our other Botox recipients.

But will that affect how they interpret emotions in others?

All right, just 75 more. [women scoff]

Kidding. That's the end of the exam.

In our pre-Botox study, our participents identified

77% of the positive emotions

and 78.8% of the negative emotions correctly.

But after Botox, our participents

correctly identified only 73.8% of the positive emotions

and 68.8% of the negative emotions.

So, at least in our modest sample,

once our participents lost their ability to frown

they found it especially difficult

to identify negative emotions in others.

But if modern advances like Botox can impede

our capacity to read other's faces,

can other forms of technology enhance our ability

to see emotions?

Author and theoretical neurobiologist Mark Changizi

has developed a scientific way to read facial expressions.

Mark, I'm glad you came over, because you have knowledge

about facial expressions and what's going on

beyond just the more obvious external stuff.

Is blood flow part of facial expressions?

- Yeah, so we don't usually think about it,

but at all times you're seeing

these subtle modulations of color.

And as you get more blood or less blood under the skin,

it becomes bluer or yellower, and as it becomes more

or less oxygenated,

it becomes redder or greener.

And this is true independent

of what ethnicity you are, what race you are,

or what kind of primate you are. It's the same.

- What emotions correlate to what colors?

- Well, there's a rough sense in which when you're angry,

you're showing oxygenated blood.

When you're sad, it's more likely

to be showing greener.

If you're fearful, your blood pumps away

from the periphery, which means

that it gets yellower.

- So, Mark, you've brought some tools with you,

an invention of yours, actually, that helps us

better perceive these color changes.

- That's right, so these are what paramedics wear

'cause they're nice, protective eyewear

that they should be wearing anyway,

and when you wear these, your veins,

suddenly they're glowing a little bit.

The same technology that helps paramedics see veins

also allows you to see emotions better

because it's enhancing that same oxygenation signal

that those emotions rely upon.

- So you've got glasses that allow us

to better see the colors that are related to emotion

and how it's affected by blood flow.

- That's right. This is not the kind of thing--

it's not like you look and it says, "angry,"

you know, written across the screen.

No, it works on your normal intuitions.

The idea is that it makes those signals easier to see,

so it should give you more insight

into what their mood, what their intent is.

- Whether through technology or evolution,

we humans have always found a way to read

and use facial expressions.

And those expressions show no sign

of becoming less important,

unless we evolve past having faces, of course.

So, did you like the show?

If you didn't, put a pencil in your mouth

and go watch it again.

If you enjoy it more or less or the same,

just let us know.

Science will thank you.

And as always, thanks for watching.

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