Page 60 - Effective Communication Skills Mastery Bible 4 Books in 1 Boxset by Tuhovsky, Ian

Chapter 5:

Smile

W hy do we like to laugh so much? What happens

in the brain when you smile? 1. Your smile is

controlled by two groups of muscles—the

major zygomatic muscles and orbicularis oculi. These first run
on the sides of the face, connecting with the corners of your

mouth. When you smile, they reveal the teeth and raise the

corners of your mouth. Orbicularis oculi are responsible for

closing the eyelids. They are also responsible for the wrinkles

in the corners of your eyes.

The movement of zygomatic muscles can be controlled by

us. We do this when we want to smile artificially. Orbicularis

oculi work independently of our will and appear only when

we laugh honestly. So if you want to know if someone laughs

for real or artificially—look at the sides of their eyes. During

artificial laughter, only their mouth laughs.

2. A smile is contagious. Scientists have discovered the

“mirror neurons” in our brains which are responsible for

recognizing the emotions on other people’s faces. After such a

recognition, they turn on the areas of our brain responsible for
the same emotions (sometimes it’s enough to look at a photo

of a smiling baby or watch a short clip with someone laughing

in it). When we see a smile on another person’s face, we can

also start to smile very easily—we automatically feel joy, so

smiling affects the behaviors of other people and their