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Mask wearing increases eye involvement during smiling: a facial EMG study
Shuntaro Okazaki1, Haruna Yamanami2, Fumika Nakagawa2
1MIRAI Technology Institute, Shiseido Co. Ltd., 1-2-11 Takashima, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 220-0011, Japan. shuntaro.okazaki@shiseido.com.
Scientific Reports
|October 14, 2021
Summary
Wearing face masks may alter facial expressions, but eye muscle activity increases during smiles. This suggests that emotions like joy can still be effectively conveyed even when a mask covers the lower face.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Face masks are widely used for disease prevention.
- Masks can potentially obscure facial expressions, impacting communication.
- Understanding the effect of masks on non-verbal cues is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how wearing a face mask affects facial expressions.
- To determine if mask-wearing influences the muscles used in smiling and talking.
Main Methods:
- Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to measure muscle activity.
- Measurements were taken from zygomaticus major, orbicularis oculi, and depressor anguli oris muscles.
- Participants smiled and talked with and without wearing a mask.
Main Results:
- Mask wearing facilitated the activation of the orbicularis oculi muscles (around the eyes).
- No significant facilitation was observed in zygomaticus major or depressor anguli oris muscles.
- Eye muscle activity was enhanced when smiling with a mask.
Conclusions:
- Face mask use may lead to increased recruitment of eye muscles during smiling.
- Emotional expressions, particularly happiness, can still be effectively communicated through the eyes while wearing a mask.
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