Trial reportScientific reports2023
Modulation of amygdala activity for emotional faces due to botulinum toxin type A injections that prevent frowning.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03373162 (Measuring the Functional Effects of Botox on the Brain Using MR Spectroscopy and fMRI), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Measuring the Functional Effects of Botox on the Brain Using MR Spectroscopy and fMRI
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Botulinum Toxin Injections for Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review of the Clinical Trial Landscape.Toxins · 2024Pooled it
- Is Acupuncture Effective in Diminishing Frown Lines? Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2025Trial
- A Psychological Guide to Lower Face Botulinum Toxin Injections: Baseline Emotional Functions of Facial Expressions.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2026Review
- Article
- Beyond aesthetic outcomes: psychodermatological benefits of botulinum toxin treatment in the upper facial third. A narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Botulinum Toxin A Therapy for Glabellar Lines Improves Emotional States: Evaluation of 47 Cases without Mental Disorders.Journal of plastic and reconstructive surgery · 2025Article
- Depression Treatment: Is There a Role for Botulinum Toxin Type A?Microorganisms · 2024Review
- On the Role of Sensorimotor Experience in Facial Expression Perception.Journal of cognitive neuroscience · 2024Review
- A simple psychophysical procedure separates representational and noise components in impairments of speech prosody perception after right-hemisphere stroke.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Machine Learning-Based Interpretable Modeling for Subjective Emotional Dynamics Sensing Using Facial EMG.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Correlation between blepharospasm and psychological diseases: the anxiety, depression and sleep disorder study.International journal of ophthalmology · 2024Article
- Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) mechanism of action.Medicine · 2023Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
According to the facial feedback hypothesis, when we see an angry or happy face, we contract or flex the relevant muscles to recreate the expression to assist in identifying and experiencing the emotion reflected. We investigated the facial feedback hypothesis by using botulinum toxin type A (onabotulinumtoxinA; onabotA) injections to induce temporary paralysis in the glabellar muscles (responsible for frowning) and measured functional brain activity during the processing of emotional faces. Ten females viewed pictures of happy and angry faces during two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan sessions: one prior (Pre) to onabotA and one following (Active) onabotA injections. We found Pre vs. Active onabotA modulation of activity in the amygdala for both happy and angry faces, as well as modulation of activity in the fusiform gyrus for happy faces. Consistent with our predictions, preventing frowning through inhibition of glabellar muscle contraction altered amygdala processing for emotional faces. The modulation of amygdala and fusiform gyrus activity following onabotA may reflect compensatory processes in a neuroanatomical circuit involved in emotional processing that is engaged when facial feedback is impaired. These data contribute to a growing literature suggesting that inhibition of glabellar muscle contraction alters neural activity for emotional processing.Clinical Trials.gov registration number: NCT03373162.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.