Smiling can trick your brain into believing that you’re happy, which can then spur actual feelings of happiness. But it doesn’t end there. Dr. Murray Grossan, an ENT-otolaryngologist in Los Angeles, points to the science of psychoneuroimmunology (the study of how the brain is connected to the immune system), asserting that it has been shown “over and over again” that depression weakens your immune system, while happiness, on the other hand, has been shown to boost your body’s resistance.⁠ ⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ “What’s crazy is that just the physical act of smiling can make a difference in building your immunity,” said Dr. Grossan in 2018. “When you smile, the brain sees the muscle [activity] and assumes that humor is happening.”⁠ In a sense, the brain is a sucker for a grin. It doesn’t bother to sort out whether you’re smiling because you’re genuinely joyous, or because you’re just pretending.⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ #fakesmile #fakingasmile #fake #fakeness #faking #smile #smiling #brain #science #biology