Health | Botox Botox Dulls Emotions Limited facial expressions may stifle feelings By Nick McMaster Posted Jun 22, 2010 2:30 PM CDT Copied Colleen Delsack, 47, of Alexandria, Va., has Botox injected by Dr. Shannon Ginnan, at Reveal in Arlington, Va. on Friday, June 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Some Botox patients have trouble looking happy or sad, and now research suggests they have trouble feeling happy or sad as a result. Facial expressions themselves are thought to produce sensory feedback that influences emotional states, so a group of Barnard researchers tested whether Botox users—who have literally paralyzed parts of their faces—might feel limited responses, LiveScience reports. The researchers showed videos with strong emotional scenes to subjects injected with Botox and Restylane, another wrinkle-fighting substance that doesn't paralyze tissue. The Botox folks were especially limited in their ability to respond to a mildly positive scene and "exhibited an overall significant decrease in the strength of emotional experience," the researchers write in the journal Emotion. Read These Next Minneapolis shooter had a plan—and grievances. American Taylor Townsend gets an earful after her US Open win. The Air Force has changed its tune on Ashli Babbitt. Open that wallet big time for a trip to Disney, if you can afford it. Report an error