Botox, relied on by millions of women for younger-looking skin, may be doing more than getting rid of wrinkles. The treatment also eliminates the ability of users to understand emotions in other people, a new study says. And Botox could even lessen the abilities of users to feel their own emotions.
“People who use Botox are less able to read others’ emotions,” USC psychology professor David Neal said in a university news release. Neal said that happens because people read each others’ emotions in part by mimicking others’ facial expressions.
“When you mimic you get a window into their world,” Neal said in the news release. “When you can’t mimic, as with Botox, that window is a little darker..It's somewhat ironic -- people use Botox to function better in social situations. You may look better but you could suffer because you can't read other people's emotions."
In the study, a group of women who had gotten either Botox or Restylane (a treatment that doesn’t freeze muscles) were asked to identify the emotions of people in photographs. Another group was given a gel that didn’t reduce muscle movement.
Neal said that the women who had Botox were consistently less able to tell what emotions the people in the photographs were feeling. Subjects who had used Restylane were better able to identify the emotions, while people who were given the the gel were the most accurate of all.
The study follows one at Columbia University that found people who use Botox may be less able to read their own emotions.
"Human communication can be a very subtle thing," Neal said. "When you eliminate a slice of information -- whether by communicating through email and Twitter or by paralyzing your own facial muscles -- it can be the difference between successful communication and failure."
The university said that future areas of study may include Botox's effect on the ability to lie successfully and communicate effectively with their significant other.
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