Development of digital technology to estimate standardized brain health from facial expressions and its application to neuroaesthetics research

Development of digital technology to estimate standardized brain health from facial expressions and its application to neuroaesthetics research | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Development of digital technology to estimate standardized brain health from facial expressions and its application to neuroaesthetics research Keiko Abe, Takayuki Kurata, Yasuhito Sato, Yoshihiko Namba, Keisuke Kokubun, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7677657/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In recent years, the effects of reading and art on the human brain have been attracting attention. However, it has not been clarified how they affect the brain structure of healthy middle-aged people. This is due to the lack of technology to easily measure the state of brain structure. Therefore, in Study I, by analyzing the correspondence between gray matter volume (GMV) calculated from MRI images of the brain and facial expression data when four types of facial expressions are made (happiness, anger, sadness, and surprise), we constructed an algorithm to estimate brain health from facial expressions and developed a digital application to estimate brain health. In study II, we conducted correlation analysis between the estimated GMV and creative activities and reading habits measured by questionnaire using 113 middle-aged men and women who considered themselves healthy. It was revealed that GMV of the default mode network (DMN) and central executive network (CEN) correlate with creative activity and reading habit, respectively. This is the first study to show that art and reading can affect the brain structure of more people than previously believed using the estimated GMV. Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Biological sciences/Neuroscience art estimated gray matter volume facial expressions reading triple network Full Text Additional Declarations Competing interest reported. Authors Keiko Abe, Takayuki Kurata, Yasuhito Sato, and Yoshihiko Namba were employed by the company Panasonic Corporation. Author Yoshinori Yamakawa was employed by the company Brain Impact. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 30 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Jan, 2026 Editor invited by journal 26 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 25 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 22 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7677657","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":532837967,"identity":"d37a25b4-468e-4caf-aabd-13b682941744","order_by":0,"name":"Keiko Abe","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Panasonic Holdings Corporation","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Keiko","middleName":"","lastName":"Abe","suffix":""},{"id":532837968,"identity":"6833edbb-b4da-4312-aafd-27a41d5977e3","order_by":1,"name":"Takayuki Kurata","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Panasonic Holdings 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Authors Keiko Abe, Takayuki Kurata, Yasuhito Sato, and Yoshihiko Namba were employed by the company Panasonic Corporation. Author Yoshinori Yamakawa was employed by the company Brain Impact. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.","formattedTitle":"Development of digital technology to estimate standardized brain health from facial expressions and its application to neuroaesthetics research","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"art, estimated gray matter volume, facial expressions, reading, triple network","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7677657/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7677657/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, the effects of reading and art on the human brain have been attracting attention. However, it has not been clarified how they affect the brain structure of healthy middle-aged people. This is due to the lack of technology to easily measure the state of brain structure. Therefore, in Study I, by analyzing the correspondence between gray matter volume (GMV) calculated from MRI images of the brain and facial expression data when four types of facial expressions are made (happiness, anger, sadness, and surprise), we constructed an algorithm to estimate brain health from facial expressions and developed a digital application to estimate brain health. In study II, we conducted correlation analysis between the estimated GMV and creative activities and reading habits measured by questionnaire using 113 middle-aged men and women who considered themselves healthy. It was revealed that GMV of the default mode network (DMN) and central executive network (CEN) correlate with creative activity and reading habit, respectively. This is the first study to show that art and reading can affect the brain structure of more people than previously believed using the estimated GMV.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Development of digital technology to estimate standardized brain health from facial expressions and its application to neuroaesthetics research","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-29 06:22:16","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7677657/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"234796841080483131052582975019004688948","date":"2026-04-24T23:57:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-30T11:30:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"149510224094411736907992976456176411713","date":"2026-02-28T02:54:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"198037723055713193455706925640368413360","date":"2026-02-27T11:12:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-28T17:04:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-26T19:07:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T10:33:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-24T14:39:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-09-22T10:29:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"240840d6-7bbb-498d-824a-56acd3cf56eb","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 29th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":56641803,"name":"Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing"},{"id":56641804,"name":"Biological sciences/Neuroscience"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-28T17:08:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-29 06:22:16","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7677657","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7677657","identity":"rs-7677657","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}