A lift for faces -- and moods?

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Inspired by age-old literary wisdom, countless song lyrics and the 1872 musings of Charles Darwin, a very 2006 theory to treat depression has emerged. Why not turn that frown upside down -- with a shot of Botox? By preventing the physical act of frowning, the muscle-paralyzing toxin just might ease depression.

A small-scale pilot trial, published in the May 15 journal Dermatologic Surgery, found that Botox injected into frown lines around the mouth or in forehead furrows of 10 women eliminated depression symptoms in nine of them and reduced symptoms in the 10th.

It's nowhere near proof that Botox can treat depression, but experts, including the study's authors, say it should be studied further in larger trials that can control for a placebo effect. After all, clinical depression will, according to the American Psychiatric Assn., affect 10% to 25% of women and 5% to 10% of men at some time in their lives.

The study results fit with a large body of psychological research that has long shown that the mere act of smiling -- even the most insincere "I don't want to pose for this photograph" smile -- makes people feel better. Frowns make them feel worse.

Volunteers asked to smile, for example, whether they wanted to or not, while watching a cartoon found it funnier than those not asked to smile, according to a 1989 study in the Annual Review of Psychology. Frown muscle activity, on the other hand, has been found to be a predictor of depression treatment outcome, according to a 1981 study in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The finding fits too with certain treatment theories. Alcoholics Anonymous has a slogan, "Fake it till you make it," implying that acting as if you feel good actually helps you feel better. And cognitive therapy for depression often involves teaching people to cut the hangdog look.

Botox's potential to treat depression dawned on Dr. Eric Finzi, a cosmetic surgeon in Chevy Chase, Md., and lead author of the study, a few years ago, while he was studying facial expressions. Also a painter, he was working on a series of portraits based on late 19th century photographs of patients confined in the French hospital La Salpetriere, an institution for women "of abnormal constitution." "I went back and read Charles Darwin. Back in the 1870s, he brought up that you sort of are the emotions you express on your face," Finzi says.