You’ve probably heard the claim that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. It’s usually framed as a feel-good reason to turn your frown upside down – less effort, more joy. But anatomically, ...

Smiles are strange things. People use them when they are happy, yes, but also when they are uncomfortable, bored, anxious, or trying to be polite. Sometimes a smile has nothing to do with joy at all.

In the mid 1800s, a French neurologist by the name of Duchenne de Boulogne began conducting pioneering electrophysiology research, hoping to understand more about the brain and nervous system. He ...

Many smiles are socially motivated, used to appear polite, reduce tension, or mask discomfort. Scientists have long studied how the human brain distinguishes between real and fake smiles, revealing ...

You've probably heard the claim that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. It's usually framed as a feel-good reason to turn your frown upside down—less effort, more joy. But anatomically, the ...