Changes in facial appearance alter one's sensitivity not only to the self but also to the outside world

Motoyasu Honma; Sayaka Yoshiba; Saya Miyamoto; Nanae Himi; Shugo Haga; Sumire Ogura; Koutaro Maki; Yuri Masaoka; Masahiko Izumizaki; Tatsuo Shirota

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1426820

Changes in facial appearance alter one's sensitivity not only to the self but also to the outside world

Front Psychol. 2024 Sep 10:15:1426820. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1426820. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Motoyasu Honma^#¹, Sayaka Yoshiba^#^{2

3}, Saya Miyamoto³, Nanae Himi³, Shugo Haga⁴, Sumire Ogura⁴, Koutaro Maki⁴, Yuri Masaoka¹, Masahiko Izumizaki¹, Tatsuo Shirota³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Oral Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University Adachi Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Showa University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Orthodontics, Showa University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: Changes in facial appearance due to orthognathic surgery are known to improve a patient's postoperative quality of life, however, potential changes in cognitive function are unknown. This study examined the effects of changes in facial appearance due to orthognathic surgery on the sensitivity to self and to outside objects in patients with jaw deformities.

Methods: Patients with jaw deformities (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 30) were tested at 3 months preoperatively, at 1 month preoperatively, and at 1 month postoperatively to assess their impression of objects (positive, negative, and neutral pictures) and their evaluation of their own face and body.

Results: The results showed that changes in facial appearance improved self-evaluation and increased their sensitivity to emotional objects even when the objects were identical. Furthermore, the improving rating for own face was associated with the sensitivity for objects.

Discussion: The changes in facial appearance in patients may have helped to clear the sensitivity to these emotional objects. These findings may provide a new indicator of efficacy in orthognathic surgery.

Keywords: external evaluation; facial appearance; jaw deformity; orthognathic surgery; self-evaluation.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. M.H. was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B) Grant Number JP24K02648.