Botox could reduce anxiety and depression

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Botox injections that stop people frowning could help reduce negative emotions such as fear and anger as well as treat depression and anxiety, according to a new scientific study.

Researchers found that botox injected into the forehead area relaxed facial muscles and prevented a “negative feedback loop” between the face and brain.

As a result, the people it was tested on were better able to manage negative emotions and control impulsive behaviour – common symptoms of borderline personality disorder.

Researchers from the Asklepios Campus Hamburg of Semmelweis University and the Hannover Medical School examined how Glabellar botulinum toxin (BTX) injected in the forehead muscles affected 45 women suffering from BPD.

The study’s senior author, Dr Axel Wollmer of Semmelweis University, said: “This is one of the most common personality disorders with symptoms of emotional instability and impulsive behaviour.

“Patients suffering from BPD experience an excess of negative emotions like anger and fear.

“Our hypothesis was that relaxing the muscles in the forehead with BTX will interrupt a feedback loop between the face and the brain and thereby reduce these negative emotions.”

Botox could play a role in treating depression

MRI scans of the injected patients showed decreased activity in the so-called amygdala region of the brain which is responsible for processing negative emotions.

Dr Wollmer added: “The World Health Organization estimates that the number of people suffering from depression is approximately 280 million.

“Established treatments such as psychotherapy or antidepressants don’t work sufficiently for about one third of the patients so there is a need to develop novel treatment options, and this is where BTX injections could have a role.”

During the study, the women received treatment with either botox or acupuncture.

Before this, and four weeks later, the participants were given a so-called “emotional go/no go” task.

This involved them trying to control their reactions to certain cues while seeing pictures of faces with different emotional expressions presented to them on a computer screen. As this happened the researchers scanned their brains.

Injections reduced patients’ impulsive behaviour

Dr Wollmer explained that those who received botox injections demonstrated changes in brain wave activity on the MRI scans: “The images showed a reduction in the activity of the amygdala in response to emotional stimuli, which is often exaggerated in BPD patients.”

The researchers also noticed that BTX reduced the patients’ impulsive behaviour in the go/no go task and it corresponded with the activation of prefrontal areas in the brain which are involved in inhibitory control.

Previous research has suggested that emotions expressed on the face affect our mental state.

Negative emotions such as anger, sadness, or fear often generate vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows.

When treated with BTX the underlying muscles are paralysed in this area and it is understood that this reduces the intensity of those emotions.

The new study is published in the latest edition of journal Scientific Reports.



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