Which facial muscle is responsible for smiling?
zygomaticus major
Table 1
Facial expression | Muscle pair | Half-widths¶ (ms) ‡ |
---|---|---|
Smile | Orbicularis oculi and zygomaticus major | 4.50 ± 0.53 |
Sad expression | Corrugator and depressor anguli oris | 8.00 ± 1.05 |
Horror expression | Frontalis and mentalis | 19.00 |
Contrived expression 1 | Frontalis and zygomaticus major | — |
What is the smile muscle?
Each smile hinges on an anatomical feature known as the zygomaticus major, straps of facial muscle below the cheekbones that pull up the corners of the mouth. But it’s not the only muscle at work.
What is the anatomy of the face?

The anatomy of the face can divide into three main regions: upper face, middle face, and lower face. The entire face is covered by skin superficially, while the deep anatomy contains muscles, fat pads, nerves, vessels, and bones.
What is a dominant smile?
Those associated with dominant smiles include elevated eyelids, raised cheeks, wrinkled nose, lifted upper lip and that signature crookedness. Your smile might not translate everywhere, though. Recent research suggests that there are more distinct, culture-based expression dialects too.
How many muscles are used for smiling?
At least ten muscles are involved in smiling, but it might require as few as six to form a frown. We propose changing the saying to “smiling burns more calories than frowning,” but let’s take a look at the other benefits we get from smiling!

What are the main parts of the face that sense things?
So basically, human beings have five sense organs i.e. eyes, ear, nose, tongue, and skin.
- Eyes (Sense of Sight) A good sense of sight is achieved by healthy eyes.
- Nose (Sense of Smell) The organ for the sense of smell is the nose.
- Ears (Sense of Hearing)
- Skin (Sense of Touch)
- Tongue (Sense of Tasting)
What is the upper cheek called?
zygomatic bone, also called cheekbone, or malar bone, diamond-shaped bone below and lateral to the orbit, or eye socket, at the widest part of the cheek.