People who can not smile

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Smiling is one of the most important means of interacting with other people. So, what if you can not do that?

13-year-old Kevin Portillo needs to do smile exercises every day at home.

"I have to flex my cheeks, I do this for two minutes and I have to do it every day," he says. Sometimes the jaw is aching, making them.

When Kevin was born in New Jersey, there was a large vein tumor on the left side of his face. It caused his left eye to close, his nose to the right. The long-term treatment was successful, but it became unable to do one of the most important things that were human-specific: smile.

There are 17 pairs of muscles that control the expression on the face of the person, as well as a ring of muscle around the mouth.

The smiley is the minor and the major two pairs of caste.

There is a difference between smiles and genders and cultures. Usually women are more smiley. Smile has a communicative function; that is, not alone, but in more people and communicating with them.

Scientists have observed that smile is much easier to detect than other face expressions; but the reason for this is not yet known.

To understand that a person does not smile, a 10 millisecond image is sufficient. In order to perceive the expression of fear, which is one of the most necessary things for a person to survive, it has to be seen for 250 milliseconds.

Scientists say that facial expressions such as smile and frown are from the pre-tongue period of humanity. Face-to-face can be as long as the first people, as the language in the world has begun to develop about 100,000 years ago.

"We were communicating with hundreds of people before verbal communication," says Aleix Martinez, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio University and founder of the Computer Biology and Cognitive Science Laboratory.

When eight people were photographed in four separate cultures and four smiles of four smiling, four smiling in 2016, most of the people found smiley faces more honest and trustworthy.

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Smile perception in different cultures
In some countries, such as Switzerland, Australia and the Philippines, the difference between those who think in this way and those in other countries is considerable, while in countries like Pakistan, Russia and France it is less. In countries such as Iran, India and Zimbabwe, smiles did not have a distinctive credibility.

The reason for this is that in countries where corruption is prevalent it is linked to a decrease in trust in people's smiles.

In addition, the idea that smile did not suit religiously serious was used. In the paintings made before the French Revolution, the mouthful smile was perceived only as a feature of the lower classes.

In Eastern religions, smile is associated with enlightenment. Buddha and other religious personalities are depicted as smiling. But in the first Buddhist texts, too, the smile was avoided as in the West. You never see Jesus when you smile.

Causes are different
Kevin's cancer treatment was successful, but the seventh cranial nerve died. This nerve starting from the brain root is then distributed in percent. In addition to tumor, Moebius syndrome also does not allow smiles, frowns, or eyes to turn to the left or right because of the innate facial expression. A person with this illness "seems to be walking around with a mask". It can be perceived as having a mental problem.

Kevin expresses his situation as follows: "I could not smile at my left side, only my right side was laughing ... People are asking why I am like this.

In addition to being congenital, there may also be cases of temporary facial paralysis that may occur due to viral infection in the face nerves at a later age. In addition, damage to the facial muscles resulting from an accident or congenital cleft palate can cause similar problems.

Another discomfort that affects the smile is also found. It is one of the symptoms of a sagging and twisted smile on one side of the face and requires immediate intervention. (In other words, it is difficult to speak with a feeling of numbness or weakness in the other word.)

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Social acceptance
Tami Konieczny from the Philadelphia Children's Hospital says that the problem of smile or symmetrical smile, especially for young people, is important, it affects their social world and makes social acceptance difficult.

"If people can not read your facial expressions, it's hard to see social acceptance, and young people are very impressed with it, playing with Photoshop on their own pictures, sharing it in social media."

Treatment of this problem can include a lot of cosmetic surgery in over a year. Some families are waiting for their children to grow up to decide on this issue. Children can understand that they have a problem with their appearance when they are about 9-10 years old.

Kevin did so, and he wanted to have surgery when he was 10 years old. This decision was taken when he knew it was a long and difficult process.

In October 2015, plastic surgeon Phuong Nguyen placed Kevin's right ankle on the right side of his face, normal working, and expected to grow there for a year (the nerves grow about a mm a day).

The second operation was performed in August 2016 when the nerve was large enough to perform normal function. Doctor Nguyen scored with a 12-centimeter muscle from Kevin's left hip and removed the veins and placed them in his face.

A year later Kevin could move the left side of his mouth. But to reach today's level, we have to participate in numerous physical therapy sessions.

Physical rehabilitation can be ignored, but it is also the next step that determines the success of surgery.

Kevin feels like "normal smiley other people" because he can now laugh. She says that her old shyness is getting smaller and more active.