School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK.
Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 3;8(1):14720. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-33119-1.
Botulinum toxin (BTX) injections reduce muscle mobility and are commonly used to treat the appearance of glabellar frown lines. Research shows that this cosmetic treatment leads to a reduction in depression. This reduction is consistent with the theory of embodied emotions because patients have a reduced ability to frown and so receive less negative feedback associated with this action. The current research explored this effect and three further hypotheses for the effects of cosmetic BTX injections based on embodied emotions. It was hypothesised that treatment of crow's feet (or laughter lines) would reduce mood as patients' Duchenne smiles would be impaired. It was hypothesised that facial BTX treatments would impair emotional expression recognition because the ability to mimic emotions would be reduced. Finally, it was hypothesised that, as BTX treatments prevent facial expressions associated with sexual excitement, sexual function would be impaired after treatment. Twenty four BTX-treated and twelve matched participants (all female) were tested before and after treatment. Results found that BTX treatment of laughter lines was associated with increased depression scores. Further, BTX treatment was associated with reduced emotion recognition ability and sexual function. The current results add to our knowledge of the psychological effects of injections of powerful neurotoxins and broaden the scope of the embodiment of emotions.
肉毒杆菌毒素 (BTX) 注射可减少肌肉活动度，常用于治疗眉间皱眉纹的外观。研究表明，这种美容治疗可降低抑郁程度。这种减少与体现情感的理论是一致的，因为患者皱眉能力降低，因此与该动作相关的负面反馈减少。目前的研究基于体现情感理论，探讨了这种效果以及肉毒杆菌毒素注射的另外三个假设。假设鱼尾纹（或笑纹）的治疗会降低情绪，因为患者的杜兴氏笑容会受损。假设面部肉毒杆菌毒素治疗会损害情绪识别能力，因为模仿情绪的能力会降低。最后，假设肉毒杆菌毒素治疗会阻止与性兴奋相关的面部表情，治疗后性功能会受损。在治疗前后，对 24 名接受肉毒杆菌毒素治疗的参与者和 12 名匹配的参与者（均为女性）进行了测试。结果发现，治疗鱼尾纹与抑郁评分升高有关。此外，肉毒杆菌毒素治疗与情绪识别能力和性功能下降有关。目前的结果增加了我们对注射强效神经毒素的心理影响的认识，并扩大了情感体现的范围。
