How many muscles does it take to smile in numbers?
To smile, it take as many as 15 muscles in total, but ultimately it depends on which elements of a smile you are referring to. The act of raising the corners of your mouth is done by three muscles, primarily the zygomaticus major and risorius muscles and aided by the buccinator muscle. If you squint your eyes while you smile you may also use orbicularis oculi. If you scrunch your nose with your smile then you may also use your procerus and nasalis muscle. If your forehead wrinkles and eyebrows raise then your occipitofrontalis helps as well. For someone with a very expressive smile, they are likely using a lot of their facial muscles (up to 15, the rest of the facial muscles would oppose a smile and cause frowning)."It takes one more muscle to smile than to frown, according to plastic surgeon David H. Song, MD, FACS, assistant professor at the University of Chicago Hospitals.Newspapers around the globe assure us, "Frowning takes more muscles than smiling,"13 to smile, 33 to frown - The Washington Post.10 to smile, 100 to frown - The New York Times,4 to smile, 64 to frown - The Hindu. An urban myth?Only Cecil's "The Straight Dope" got an expert (Dr. Song) to go through the motions. A genuine smile takes two muscles to crinkle the eyes, two to pull up the lip corners and nose, two to elevate the mouth angle, and two to pull the mouth corners sideways. Total smile: 12.On the other hand, a frown needs two muscles to pull down the lips and wrinkles in the lower face, three to furrow the brow, one to purse the lips, one to depress the lower lip, and two to pull the mouth corners down. Total frown: 11.A fake smile, however, only takes two muscles. We detect the fake because "the eyes aren't smiling."