Botox may reduce empathy in users

Sebastian Niedlich (Grabthar)/Flickr

Nicole Kidman

The thought of people injected poison into their skins to remove wrinkles, has always mystified me. I do understand the will to look good, but it is so evident when you see someone with their face pumped full of Botox. Muscles in the face cease to work normally, smiles look bizarre and the face looks generally frozen like a mask.  Now there is another reason not to use Botox. A new study suggests that over time Botox use can cause people to less understand the facial expressions of others, leading them to be less empathic.

David Neal, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, lead author of the research said, "People who use Botox are less able to read others' emotions ... When the facial muscles are dampened, you get worse in emotion perception, and when the facial muscles are amplified, you get better at emotion perception."

It has to do with a person's ability to mimic facial expressions of others. When this is not possible,the brain is less likely to understand what the emotion is. Are you reading this Nicole Kidman? (Read more here)

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