Anatomy of a Smile
By: Dr. Anne Borik
Mother Teresa once said, ”Peace start with a smile.” As we focus on
emotional expression, I would like to talk about the Anatomy of a Smile. We know that
emotional expression requires some sort of physical action. Whether it be a sigh, a sob, a
smile or a dash for safety, in order for human beings to express emotions some outward
physical change must occur. If we suppress emotions what results are physical changes
on the inside. The blood pressure starts to rise, digestion is disrupted and ultimately blood
circulation tends to diminish resulting in fatigue, inability to concentrate and an overall
decreased sense of well being.
Facial expressions of emotion are universal regardless of what part of the world
we are from. This suggests that we as humans are hard-wired to express and respond to
emotions rather that it being a by- product moulded by our culture.
The ‘social’ smile is quite different from the ‘genuine’ smile of pleasure. The two
types of smiles are brought about by a different set of facial muscles, which in turn are
controlled by different parts of the brain. The ‘social’ or (“have a nice day”) smile comes
from the conscious cortex and can be brought on at will. The ‘genuine’ smile emerges
from the subconscious part of the brain and is automatic. It is the genuine smile that
automatically causes the tiny muscles to contract surrounding the eyes, which does not
occur with the social smile. A smile directed toward a loved one often involves slight
dilation of the pupils as well.
We now know that facial expressions can also transmit and trigger emotions in
others. The sight of a person smiling turns on the observer’s brain area associated with
feeling happy or pleasure. (IF YOU SMILE, THE WHOLE WORLD DOES INDEED
SMILE WITH YOU.) Experiments in which tiny sensors were attached to the ‘smile’
muscles of another person looking at smiling faces showed that the sight of another
person smiling triggers automatic mimicry. In other words, when we see others smile we
can’t help but smile ourselves…….Peace with others really does starts with a Smile!
Taken from: http://www.signchido.com/
