Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science

Transcription

1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science Results of the second phase of a joint project between Kanebo Cosmetics and the brain scientist Ken Mogi A woman sees her face with makeup as the face of her true self. Scientific proof that makeup changes brain activity and self-awareness Tokyo, Japan October 29, 2009 The Value Creation Laboratory and the Makeup Laboratory of Kanebo Cosmetics have been conducting unique experiments to compare the brain activity of women before and after they apply makeup. The results have been compelling. In the moments before a woman puts on her makeup, she feels as if she will be composing the face of a different person. But once her makeup is in place, she feels as if her newly made-up face is her own. This suggests that a woman in makeup sees her made-up face as a representation of her true self as a social being in relation to other people. The most recent experiments make up the second phase of Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science a project launched in July 2007 in collaboration with the eminent brain scientist Ken Mogi. This is a project to comprehensively apply scientific research methodologies to the study of aesthetic topics such as essence of beauty and essence of make-up. In November 2008, the presentations of the first results at Neuroscience 2008, the conference of the Society for Neuroscience, the world s largest and most authoritative academic society devoted to the study of brain and cognitive science, found high acclaim. By elucidating the essence of beauty and the essence of make-up under the perspective of brain science, we hope to discover the true values and effects of cosmetics and find new ways to bring out the inborn beauty and individuality of every woman. Background of the Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science project and the research results up to last year 1

2 Kanebo Cosmetics is convinced that cosmetics should be used not simply to express beauty, but to bring out the individuality and full beauty potential of every woman as a person. In providing cosmetics, we make it our mission to deliver diverse values to enhance the richness and happiness of women s lives. To study the essential value of cosmetics from wide-ranging viewpoints, we wanted to apply brain science methodologies to take a look at the unconscious mind in order to complement conventional approaches focusing on the human consciousness. Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science, the collaborative project we are conducting with the brain scientist Ken Mogi, is taking us in this direction in a new field of empirical study on the essence of beauty and the essence of make-up. In the first stage of this research we measured changes in brain activity when women not wearing makeup looked at images of their own faces with and without makeup. This experiment turned up compelling new findings on the activation of the caudate nucleus,* a part of the brain associated with reward-prediction. The caudate nucleus is activated when a woman sees here face without makeup, suggesting that she feels a higher level of expectation when imagining her own face after applying makeup. Yet intriguingly, the measurements have also shown that the same parts of the brain are activated when a woman sees her own face with makeup and the face of another woman. By putting on makeup, a woman seems to take on an identity one step closer to society; to become an intermediary self, a person self-styled for communicating with other people. In the second phase of this research project we therefore intended to throw light on the cognitive changes that take place within a woman s mind after she has applied makeup, when she sees her own face without and with makeup. * Caudate nucleus: A part of the brain activated in expectation of a reward brought about by a particular activity. The activation of the reward system seems likely to involve the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter produced within the brain during moments of pleasure and joy. Cosmetics have a surprising power to change our brains. As before, our latest round of measurements was carried out with fmri (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) on subjects with makeup actually applied. 2

3 Because fmri transmits a strong magnetic force, it cannot be used on subjects wearing cosmetics with metal ingredients which can be easily affected by magnetism. To work around this condition, we selected and classified raw cosmetic materials suitable for use in the fmri. Next, we scanned the cosmetics for products containing these fmri-friendly ingredients, and asked the test subjects to apply their makeup using these products. After the subjects had applied makeup, we measured their brain activities when looking at images of their own face with and without makeup, and the face of another person with makeup. In the first stage of our research, fmri measurements of subjects without makeup revealed that the area of brain activity when women see their faces without makeup is identical to that when they recognize their own faces. But next, fmri measurements of subjects wearing makeup showed the same brain activities when they were viewing themselves with makeup and when recognizing their own faces. What do women expect of cosmetics? We can conjecture the following by comparing the implications of the research results of the first stage with our latest findings. When a woman sets up in front of the mirror in the morning with an undone face, ready to begin her makeup routine, she anticipates, with pleasure, how she will change once her makeup goes on (her reward system is activated in the brain). During these moments, she tends to equate her unmade face with herself, and her soon-to-be made-up face with the face of another person. In essence, she thinks of her own face with makeup as almost the face of another person (see Fig. 1). Fig. 1: When makeup is about to be applied A woman s face in makeup plays an intermediary role in her relationship with other people 3

4 The reward system is activated when a woman looks at her own face without makeup Rewar d Yet when a woman actually applies makeup and goes out into the world to interact with other people, her makeup actually changes her self-recognition. When wearing makeup, she perceives both of her faces, the one with makeup and the one without, as the face of the true her. Simply put, her self-recognition changes before and after putting on makeup. Before making up, she thinks of her face in makeup as the face of another person. Yet once the makeup is applied, she thinks of her face in makeup as her own (see Fig. 2). Fig. 2: Going out into the society after applying makeup 4

5 Face with makeup = One s own self Just before a woman puts on makeup, she anticipates the feeling of confidence she will attain by applying the makeup and her positive interactions with people in the ensuing hours. The changes in brain activity after putting on makeup illustrate the change in the recognition of self by the brain. Without makeup, a woman perceives her own face with makeup as the face of other people. After applying makeup, she perceives her face with makeup as the true representation of herself. In this sense, makeup seems not only to change a woman s face, but also her brain, at an unconscious level, to prepare her for the interaction with other people. As a follow-up to last year, the results of this research and other finding were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the conference of the Society for Neuroscience held in Chicago between October 16 and 21, We will be also presenting these findings at the 14 th JFACE Annual Conference (Forum Kaogaku 2009) to be held in Kagoshima between October 31 and November 1,