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People after 40 look younger when they smile
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Dutch scientists have taught a computer program to determine people's age and mood using a database containing videos of smiling people, and also found that a smiling person looks younger, but only when he or she is over 40 years old, according to a report from the University of Amsterdam.
Theo Gevers from this university and his colleagues created and posted on the Internet the largest "smile database" by filming visitors to the university's NEMO research center. The project participants, men and women aged 8 to 76 (a total of 481 people "got into" the database) were asked to show on camera a "fake" and a sincere smile, and to demonstrate other emotions - anger, sadness, surprise, horror.
Scientists analyzed characteristics of smiles, such as how quickly the corners of the mouth rise, and then tried to formalize these parameters so that a computer program could guess a person's age and emotions.
In addition, in a parallel experiment, Gevers and his colleagues asked volunteers to watch videos from a database and rate people's ages, how attractive they looked, and their personalities.
A comparison of the results showed that the computer program was more accurate in determining age. People were off by about seven years on average, while the computer was off by only six.
A study by Gevers and colleagues also found that people look younger when they smile, but only if they are over 40. "If you are under 40, you should control your emotions if you want to look younger," the report notes.
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