Botox Curbs Emotions, Study Says ... and Now Allergan Is Marketing It to Men

(MoneyWatch)  Botox stunts your ability to process negative emotions, according to a new study. The experiment was a small one -- only 40 people, so no need to get too excited about it -- but it dovetails with a previous (even tinier) study that showed Allergan (AGN)'s wrinkle-killer can alleviate depression. On top of that, Allergan has now started targeting men for Botox (as if guys didn't already have enough difficulty recognizing emotions in others).

The theory is that by paralyzing your ability to frown, signals generating negative emotions within you are similarly muted. In the recent study, by David Havas, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the subjects were asked to read either a happy or sad sentence and then press a button once they understood it:

After receiving the Botox injections, it took longer for the frown-impaired participants to process the angry and sad statements. However, the time required to process happy statements did not change.

Havas is not the only academic helping to popularize the idea that Botox makes you happy:

Murad Alam, an associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University, has also investigated the Botox-facial feedback relationship

"When we are sad, angry or frustrated, but we have Botox on board, our muscles do not contract to create furrows between our brows and deep creases on our foreheads," Alam said. "This lack of frowning and wrinkling works backward to adjust our emotions and make us happier."

And finally: Allergan's Botox web site is now targeting men. Meet "Andrew" [pictured], a salesman, athlete and loyal patient." He says:

... you're not very approachable when you have a big frown line that doesn't go away.

Great. Now the normal process of getting older makes you "unapproachable."

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