Have you ever wondered if a smile is contagious? When the old lady at the grocery store smiles at you, don't you feel the smile spread across your face? Many people believe that smiling is contagious. On page 8 of David R. Hamilton's book, The Contagious Power of Thinking: How Your Thoughts Can Influence the World, David says, "All you have to do is give someone a smile to make them smile." No matter how hard they try to resist, the smile is contagious. (Hamilton, 2011) Is David expressing his own opinion, however? I have no idea how much scientific information David has in his statement, however, I do know that real scientists must be researching the contagion of smiles. A study was done by scientists in Sweden on why people smile when someone smiles at them. . They think it’s “the unconscious that takes control.” Smiling can change our brain. Your brain keeps track of your smiles, knows how often you smiled and what general emotional state you are in. Smiling has different effects on our health, our success and our feeling of happiness. Children smile more often; this explains why we often feel happier and smile more around children. On average, children smile 400 times a day. Happy people smile 40 to 50 times a day, while average people smile 20 times a day. What happens to our brains when we smile? Let's explore a situation. When you see a friend you haven't seen in a long time, neural signals travel from the cortex of your brain to the brainstem. From there, the cranial muscle carries the signal further to the smiling muscles in your face. Once the smiling muscles in our face contract, there is a positive feedback loop that now flows back to the brain and reinforces our feeling of joy. A...... middle of paper...... December 7). Yawning is more contagious between friends. In living science. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/17365-yawns-contagious-friends.htmlStevenson, S. (2012, June 25). There is magic in your smile. In Psychology Today. Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201206/there-s-magic-in-your-smileHazlitt, W. (nd). Smile Quotes. In Brainy Quote. Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_hazlitt.htmlThe Science of Smiling (March 12, 2013). In Tamil Brahmins. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/share-your-knowledge/14240-science-smiling.html Pomeroy, R. (May 24, 2012). A smile is more than face value. In truly clear science. Retrieved March 24, 2014 from http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/05/a-smile-is-more-than-face-value.html