Why We Kiss
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Related Content
- Sealed With a Kiss (From a Rose) (18/07/2007)
Every other month, Scientific American comes out with a magazine dedicated to the mind. In the Feb/March issue (took a while to make its way across the ocean), we found the article "Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss" to be particularly interesting.
(Of course, you can also read it online here.)
The origins of kissing...
Scientists theorise that our primate ancestors started the kissing course by chewing food and feeding it to their young mouth-to-mouth. From there, perhaps they used similar mouth methods to comfort their young when food was scarce, and to express love and affection.
Pheromones would have helped spread the process of intimate kissing, as kissing (as anyone who has ever done it knows) quickly tells a lot about the chemical compatibility of two people.
Now that we're doing it...
One of the reasons lips are so great is that they have among the most neurons covered by some of the thinnest skin on the body, and when we kiss, five of the 12 or 13 cranial nerves that work on brain function are active, sending a variety of messages to our brain.
Most people, when kissing, turn their heads to the right. Another study showed that 80% of mothers naturally hold their infants on the left side, requiring the child to turn to the right to feed or cuddle. Over time, we've learned to equate turning to the right with warmth and security, and now, are more inclined to tilt our heads to the right when going for a real one.
In yet another study of 15 couples before and after they kissed, researchers found that oxytocin (which influences orgasm and social bonding) was raised in the men, and cortisol (which influences stress) was lowered in both sexes. Perhaps this isn't surprising, as women typically need more romance to get things going in their minds.
But we love the idea that making out reduces stress (and so should you, stressed bankers).
...and how it can make or break.
In another poll, 59% of men and 66% of women admitted to ending a possible romance because of a bad kiss. So perhaps kissing, as an indicator of compatibility and therefore of mating, helps further the species.
And as for women, the more enthusiastically they kiss you, the more it tells about their commitment to the relationship.
To read the complete article in Scientific American Mind, click here.
The origins of kissing...
Scientists theorise that our primate ancestors started the kissing course by chewing food and feeding it to their young mouth-to-mouth. From there, perhaps they used similar mouth methods to comfort their young when food was scarce, and to express love and affection.
Pheromones would have helped spread the process of intimate kissing, as kissing (as anyone who has ever done it knows) quickly tells a lot about the chemical compatibility of two people.
Now that we're doing it...
One of the reasons lips are so great is that they have among the most neurons covered by some of the thinnest skin on the body, and when we kiss, five of the 12 or 13 cranial nerves that work on brain function are active, sending a variety of messages to our brain.
Most people, when kissing, turn their heads to the right. Another study showed that 80% of mothers naturally hold their infants on the left side, requiring the child to turn to the right to feed or cuddle. Over time, we've learned to equate turning to the right with warmth and security, and now, are more inclined to tilt our heads to the right when going for a real one.
In yet another study of 15 couples before and after they kissed, researchers found that oxytocin (which influences orgasm and social bonding) was raised in the men, and cortisol (which influences stress) was lowered in both sexes. Perhaps this isn't surprising, as women typically need more romance to get things going in their minds.
But we love the idea that making out reduces stress (and so should you, stressed bankers).
...and how it can make or break.
In another poll, 59% of men and 66% of women admitted to ending a possible romance because of a bad kiss. So perhaps kissing, as an indicator of compatibility and therefore of mating, helps further the species.
And as for women, the more enthusiastically they kiss you, the more it tells about their commitment to the relationship.
To read the complete article in Scientific American Mind, click here.
