Brow and Masticatory Muscle Activity Senses Subjective Hedonic Experiences during Food Consumption.

Sensing subjective hedonic or emotional experiences during eating using physiological activity is practically and theoretically important. A recent psychophysiological study has reported that facial electromyography (EMG) measured from the corrugator supercilii muscles was negatively associated with hedonic ratings, including liking, wanting, and valence, during the consumption of solid foods. However, the study protocol prevented participants from natural mastication (crushing of food between the teeth) during physiological data acquisition, which could hide associations between hedonic experiences and masticatory muscle activity during natural eating. We investigated this issue by assessing participants' subjective ratings (liking, wanting, valence, and arousal) and recording physiological measures, including EMG of the corrugator supercilii, zygomatic major, masseter, and suprahyoid muscles while they consumed gel-type solid foods (water-based gellan gum jellies) of diverse flavors. Ratings of liking, wanting, and valence were negatively correlated with corrugator supercilii EMG and positively correlated with masseter and suprahyoid EMG. These findings imply that subjective hedonic experiences during food consumption can be sensed using EMG signals from the brow and masticatory muscles.

Eyebrow position in grammatical and emotional expressions in Kazakh-Russian Sign Language: A quantitative study.

Facial expressions in sign languages are used to express grammatical functions, such as question marking, but can also be used to express emotions (either the signer's own or in constructed action contexts). Emotions and grammatical functions can utilize the same articulators, and the combinations can be congruent or incongruent. For instance, surprise and polar questions can be marked by raised eyebrows, while anger is usually marked by lowered eyebrows. We investigated what happens when different emotions (neutral/surprise/anger) are combined with different sentence types (statement/polar question/wh-question) in Kazakh-Russian Sign Language (KRSL), replicating studies previously made for other sign languages. We asked 9 native signers (5 deaf, 4 hearing children of deaf adults) to sign 10 simple sentences in 9 conditions (3 emotions * 3 sentence types). We used OpenPose software to track eyebrow position in the video recordings. We found that emotions and sentence types influence eyebrow position in KRSL: eyebrows are raised for polar questions and surprise, and lowered for anger. There are also some interactions between the two factors, as well as some differences between hearing and deaf native signers, namely a smaller effect of polar questions for the deaf group, and a different interaction between emotions and wh-question marking in the two groups. We thus find evidence for the complex influences on non-manual behavior in signers of sign languages, and showcase a quantitative approach to this field.

Evolution of facial muscle anatomy in dogs.

Domestication shaped wolves into dogs and transformed both their behavior and their anatomy. Here we show that, in only 33,000 y, domestication transformed the facial muscle anatomy of dogs specifically for facial communication with humans. Based on dissections of dog and wolf heads, we show that the levator anguli oculi medialis, a muscle responsible for raising the inner eyebrow intensely, is uniformly present in dogs but not in wolves. Behavioral data, collected from dogs and wolves, show that dogs produce the eyebrow movement significantly more often and with higher intensity than wolves do, with highest-intensity movements produced exclusively by dogs. Interestingly, this movement increases paedomorphism and resembles an expression that humans produce when sad, so its production in dogs may trigger a nurturing response in humans. We hypothesize that dogs with expressive eyebrows had a selection advantage and that "puppy dog eyes" are the result of selection based on humans' preferences.

Perceptions of Healthy-Looking and Sexy-Looking Brow Thickness.

This study aims to determine which brow thickness levels were considered ideal, healthy-looking, young-looking, and sexy-looking by Koreans.The 163 women and 38 men who visited a brow bar were asked to view illustrations of 4 brow thickness levels defined in terms of the percentage of the eye width at the lateral canthus: very thin (VTn-1/6) (16% of eye width), thin (Tn-1/5) (20%), medium (Med-1/4) (25%), and thick (Tk-1/3) (33%) and to choose which they thought were ideal, young-looking, healthy-looking, and sexy-looking.Med-1/4 (61.2%) was the brow thickness most often considered to be ideal, followed by Tk-1/3 (17.4%) and Tn-1/5 (15.9%). VTn-1/6 was the least preferred (5.5%). Med-1/4 was the most preferred ideal thickness among both sexes. Tk-1/3 (40.8%) was the thickness most often considered to be young-looking, followed by Med-1/4 (35.3%) and Tn-1/5 (18.4%). VTn-1/6 was the least preferred (5.5%). Tk-1/3 was the most preferred young-looking thickness among both sexes. Tk-1/3 (48.8%) was the thickness most often considered to be healthy-looking, followed by Med-1/4 (30.8%) and Tn-1/5 (11.9%). VTn-1/6 was the least preferred (8.5%). Tk-1/3 was the most preferred healthy-looking thickness by women (52.2%), whereas Med-1/4 was the most common choice among men (39.5%). Tn-1/5 (40.8%) was the thickness most often considered to be sexy-looking, followed by VTn-1/6 (25.9%) and Med-1/4 (21.4%). Tk-1/3 was the least preferred (11.9%). Tn-1/5 was the most preferred sexy-looking thickness among both sexes.The results may be used as guidelines for patient or customer preferences in facial rejuvenation operations, brow esthetics, or tattooing.

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Impact of communicative head movements on the quality of functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals: negligible effects for affirmative and negative gestures and consistent artifacts related to raising eyebrows.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is currently one of the most promising tools in the neuroscientific research to study brain hemodynamics during naturalistic social communication. The application of fNIRS by studies in this field of knowledge has been widely justified by its strong resilience to motion artifacts, including those that might be generated by communicative head and facial movements. Previous studies have focused on the identification and correction of these artifacts, but a quantification of the differential contribution of common communicative movements on the quality of fNIRS signals is still missing. We assessed the impact of four movements (nodding head up and down, reading aloud, nodding head sideways, and raising eyebrows) performed during rest and task conditions on two metrics of signal quality control: an estimative of signal-to-noise performance and the negative correlation between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb). Channel-wise group analysis confirmed the robustness of the fNIRS technique to head nodding movements but showed a large effect of raising eyebrows in both signal quality control metrics, both during task and rest conditions. Reading aloud did not disrupt the expected anticorrelation between oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb but had a relatively large effect on signal-to-noise performance. These findings may have implications to the interpretation of fNIRS studies examining communicative processes.

Behavioural and neurophysiological disruption of corticobulbar motor systems and their effects on sequential pharyngeal swallowing.

Primary motor networks are known to be involved in the control of voluntary oral movements as well as the modulation of pharyngeal movements during experimentally controlled single swallows performed on command. The role of these networks in the more typical task of sequential swallowing remains unexplored. This study evaluated the hypothesis that experimental disruption of motor cortical activation would reduce the rate and regularity of repeatedly performed volitional or volitionally initiated motor tasks controlled by corticospinal (finger tapping) and corticobulbar (eyebrow movement, jaw opening, volitional sequential swallowing) motor systems, but would not influence a more reflexive corticobulbar task (reflexive sequential swallowing to pharyngeal water infusion). This premise was investigated in 24 healthy participants using two techniques: a dual task paradigm and a transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigm. Disruption effects were quantified by changes in rate and regularity of performance for each tested motor task. In summary, volitional motor tasks controlled by corticospinal motor networks (finger tapping) are more susceptible to behavioural and neurophysiological disruption than tasks controlled by cortiobulbar motor networks containing a reflexive component (both volitional and experimentally initiated consecutive swallowing). Purely volitional motor tasks controlled by the corticobulbar motor system (eyebrow raising or jaw opening) were affected in similar ways as the volitional corticospinal motor tasks. In summary, tasks involving sequential pharyngeal swallowing - whether volitionally or experimentally initiated - are largely robust against disruption of primary cortical motor networks, supporting a key role of medullary CPGs in the motor control of sequential pharyngeal swallowing.

Proprioceptive Phenomenon With Involutional Ptosis: Evidential Findings in Anophthalmic Ptosis.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of ptosis on compensatory frontalis contraction in patients without visual input and to identify if a sensory stimulus contributes to brow elevation. METHODS: A prospective study. Clinical photographs were measured by 2 masked oculoplastic surgeons to determine brow height in 8 patients with unilateral ocular prosthesis in 3 conditions: at baseline, after a gold weight was applied to the upper eyelid inducing acute ptosis, and with the gold weight plus topical anesthetic. The measured brow height was then compared between the 3 scenarios. RESULTS: Mean brow height increased after application of the gold weight when compared with baseline, and this difference reached significance (p = 0.012). After topical anesthetic was applied, the mean brow height decreased but not back to baseline. When mean brow height during the gold weight with topical anesthesia was compared with baseline and with the gold weight only scenarios, the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Frontalis contraction is observed when acute ptosis is simulated in anophthalmic patients, confirming that a contracted visual field cannot be the only stimulus for compensatory brow elevation. A sensory or proprioceptive mechanism is suggested but not confirmed by the trend of reduction in brow elevation with topical anesthesia.

Changes of eyebrow muscle activity with aging: functional analysis revealed by electromyography.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the activity of the frontalis muscle, the corrugator supercilii muscle, and the orbicularis oculi muscle according to eyebrow movement and aging. METHODS: Two random cohorts of women aged 20 to 30 years (young group, n = 20; mean age, 24.8 years) and 50 to 70 years (old group, n = 20; mean age, 55.8 years) were recruited prospectively. Surface electromyography was used to evaluate motor unit action potential for each muscle in each of six eyebrow movements. Details on statistical analysis are described in the text. RESULTS: In both age groups, corrugator supercilii muscle activity was the highest for all six movements. Frontalis muscle activity was highest with maximal frowning but not with maximal eye opening. Orbicularis oculi muscle activity was significantly greater in the older age group than in the younger age group for most actions. When the motion proportion of each muscle was compared, the respective orbicularis oculi muscle and corrugator supercilii muscle indices were higher in the older age group than in the young group. CONCLUSIONS: Eyebrows are maintained by the dynamic balance of frontalis, corrugator supercilii, and orbicularis oculi muscles, and various combinations of motor recruitment of these muscles determine the eyebrow position and shape. For youthful eyebrows, attenuation of the depressor muscle may restore the muscle balance in treatments for eyebrow rejuvenation.

The biology, structure, and function of eyebrow hair.

Eyebrow hair serves many important biologic and aesthetic functions. This article reviews the structure and function of the hair follicle, as well as hair follicle morphogenesis and cycling. Eyebrow hair follicles share the same basic structure as hair follicles elsewhere on the body, but are distinguished by their shorter anagen (growing) phase. Knowledge of the hair follicle structure and cycle is important for understanding the pathophysiology of alopecia, as diseases affecting the stem cell portion of the hair follicle in the bulge region may cause permanent hair loss. Furthermore, therapeutic agents that target distinct phases and hormones involved in the hair cycle may be useful for promoting hair growth.

Age estimation using level of eyebrow and eyelash whitening.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine whether eyebrow and eyelash whitening is an effective parameter in age estimation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated 1545 patients. Age groups were 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, and 81-90 years. Level of whitening was categorized as level 0: no whitening, level 1: 1-3 strands, level 2: 3-10 strands, level 3: 10 strands-2/3 whitening, level 4: >3/4 whitening. RESULTS: Mean age was 42.39 ± 20.01. While there was no eyebrow whitening in 87% of the subjects, level 4 whitening of eyebrows was observed in 0,8% of the subjects. There was no eyelash whitening in 97,7% of the subjects and no level 4 eyelash whitening was detected in any subject. Men had significantly more level 1, 2, 3, and 4 eyebrow whitening compared with women. There was no gender difference in terms of eyelash whitening level. There was no eyebrow and eyelash whitening in subjects age 1-40 years; whitening began in the 41-50 years age group and increased with age in other groups. Mean age was 39.59 ± 19.63 years in subjects with no eyebrow whitening; 59 years in level 1, 61 years in level 2, 63 years in level 3, and 69 years in level 4 eyebrow whitening. Mean age was 41.85 ± 19.87 in subjects with no eyelash whitening; and 63.57 ± 10.75 in those with whitening. CONCLUSIONS: Particularly after 41-50 years of age, level of eyebrow and eyelash whitening may be among a useful age estimation parameter.

Quantification of facial movements by optical instruments: surface laser scanning and optoelectronic three-dimensional motion analyzer.

The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of displacements of tracing landmarks in standardized facial movements. Forty healthy persons were evaluated in 2 different groups (20 men and 20 women, aged 18-30 years) with optoelectronic motion analyzer and surface laser scanning. The displacements of tracing landmarks in brow lift and smile were calculated, and the 2 methods (optoelectronic motion analyzer and surface laser scanning) were compared in healthy persons. Side-related differences were found in the tracing landmark (superciliare) during brow lift movements between both methods (the largest movements were found on the right side, P = 0.044), whereas in smile movements the tracing landmark cheilion did not show significant differences between the 2 sides. In both movements, the differences of the tracing landmark displacements between the 2 systems and sexes were on average less than 2 mm, without statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). In conclusion, normal young adult men and women had similar standardized facial movements. The 2 analyzed movements can be measured by both optical instruments with comparable results.

Depressor muscle division through a subbrow excision for the improvement of brow ptosis.

The aim of this study was to introduce a technique of dividing forehead depressor muscles with a subbrow excision for improvement of brow ptosis or redundant upper eyelid skin and glabella wrinkles. Upper incisions were designed at the lower limit of the eyebrow with a lateral extension along the eyebrow curvature. After measuring the redundant upper eyelid skin, the excess skin was excised. The orbital part of the orbicularis oculi muscle was identified and split longitudinally. The forehead depressor muscles (depressor supercilii, oblique and transverse head of corrugator, and medial part of orbicularis oculi) in the brow fat pad were identified and avulsed. In the patients who have a lowered brow, the brow was elevated and fixed to the underlying periosteum about 1 cm above the superior orbital rim after subgaleal dissection. During the dissection, the supraorbital nerve was preserved. Preaponeurotic fat was transferred and sutured between the cut stumps of the corrugator and procerus. The 78 patients (19 men, 60 women; age range, 41-72 years [mean, 52.0 ± 7.1 years]) were operated on. The follow-up periods ranged from 3 to 48 months. Preoperative and postoperative photographs were taken, and the following evaluations were conducted by 1 surgeon via a Likert scale (1 = not improved, 2 = slightly improved, 3 = somewhat improved, 4 = much improved, 5 = markedly improved). The mean score for improvement of the glabella frowns in contraction was 3.7 ± 1.6. The mean score for the improvement of the glabella frowns in relaxation was 4.1 ± 1.3. The mean score for improvement of drooping eyelids was 4.7 ± 0.5. The mean score for the improvement of forehead wrinkles was 4.8 ± 0.7. We improved brow ptosis, redundant upper eyelid skin, and glabella wrinkles simultaneously using a subbrow excision and depressor muscle division while preserving the superficial branch of the supraorbital nerve.

Eyebrow movements and vocal pitch height: evidence consistent with an ethological signal.

When asked to sing a high pitch, people produce a facial expression that is judged more friendly compared with singing a low pitch [Huron et al. (2009). Empirical Musicology Rev. 4(3), 93-100]. This effect was observed even when judges viewed only the face above the tip of the nose, and implies a relationship between pitch height and eyebrow height. In the current study, we examine the reverse relationship. Thirty-one participants were asked to read aloud standard texts while holding their eyebrows in a raised, neutral, or lowered position. Average F0 was found to correlate positively with eyebrow position, with higher vocal pitch associated with higher eyebrow placement. However, manipulating eyebrow placement produces a considerably smaller effect (on pitch) compared with the effect of manipulating pitch (on eyebrows). Results are discussed from the perspective of ethological signals [Lorenz (1939). Zool. Anz. 12, 69-102].

Investigation of the relationship between wrinkle formation and deformation of the skin using three-dimensional motion analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although there have been many studies investigating facial movements using three-dimensional (3D) quantitative analysis, the possible relationship between the levels of wrinkles and the movement distance of facial skin has previously not been reported. METHOD: Forty-four healthy Japanese women (from 20 to 50 years, average = 47.7 ± 3.6 years) were recruited for this study with written informed consent. Infrared reflective marks were attached on their forehead skin, and then moving images of facial skin motions (raising the eyebrows) were captured using two infrared cameras under infrared ray irradiation. Calibration for the absolute value of distance was established using an exact one-point 3-m cube having infrared reflective marks at each apex. The two pupils and the top of the nose were setup as fixed standard points. 3D motion analysis was then carried out using Move-tr/3D(™) software to determine the absolute distances of skin surface movements. Levels of wrinkles were determined using a 3D roughness analyzer (PRIMOS) directly at rest and when raising the eyebrows. RESULTS: The wrinkle levels at rest showed a relatively high and significant correlation with wrinkles when strongly raising the eyebrows. Although the wrinkle levels at rest showed no correlation with the movement distance, the wrinkle levels when raising the eyebrows showed a significant correlation with the movement distance. The ratio of change based on the distance between the marks at rest and when raising the eyebrows showed similar correlation results. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that both the levels of skin deformation caused by movements and the wrinkles at rest are important factors that determine the wrinkle level when raising the eyebrows. However, the level of skin deformation is not important for wrinkle levels at rest, which indicates that other factors such as skin elasticity are also important for the formation of wrinkles.