Setting the Curves Straight About Smiles

Phyllis Diller once said, "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight."

If you missed the Huffington Post's Comedy Post, you missed this darling photo of a six-month old baby smiling on demand. You can see her here. Baby Kalia flashes her toothless grin repeatedly when her audience tells her to "smile."

The Baby Center states that smiles are the one of the first socially interactive gestures and usually occur within 4 - 6 weeks of birth. Boys tend to make less eye contact and smile less frequently than girls according to Psychologist Steve Biddulph.

Medical News published a study that confirmed that the mother's brain actually increased with dopamine after witnessing her baby smile for the first time. But, whose brain wouldn't react that way? There is something so precious, so captivating about a tiny infant smiling back at you.

What about puppies? There is a video showing a puppy that smile on demand also. You can view it here although I'm not so sure that the toothy grin doesn't have a bit of irritation associated with it. The dog receives a treat every time he is "smiling" for the camera. Watch him here.

Are there really more muscles involved in frowning than in smiling?

This has been widely circulated in print and on the Internet for years and SNOPES eventually ruled that it is an "Undetermined" hoax. Our myth busters attribute the smile vs. frown to being nothing more than "a snippet of homespun wisdom" that really doesn't have scientific wisdom behind it. You can read the entire account of the Snopes here.

"Light up your face with gladness, hide every trace of sadness..." You can listen to Smile performed by the late, great Nat King Cole, here.

Somehow the world seems a better, safer and curvier place when Nat is singing about smiles in the background.

Sources:

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/development/babysmileexpert/

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3123.html

http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=107013