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The Science of Kissing

Quote:

Pucker up: Scientists study kissing

New study shows that specific hormones are involved in kissing

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN
(CNN) -- When your lips gently brush against the mouth of your beloved this Valentine's Day, it may feel magically romantic, or sloppily slobbery, or blissfully gentle, or perhaps too rough and toothy.

Regardless, the practice of kissing is nearly universal. It is practiced in at least 90 percent of cultures among sexual or romantic partners, experts say. Now, scientists are investigating the biological factors underlying that ubiquitous expression of love.

The science of kissing even has a name: philematology. Research on the subject was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on Friday.

"Kissing is not just kissing. It is a major escalation or de-escalation point in a powerful process of mate choice," said Helen Fisher, professor at Rutgers University and author of the book "Why Him, Why Her: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type." Visit CNNhealth, your connection for better living

A study by Gordon Gallup Jr., professor of psychology at the University of Albany, showed that 59 percent of men and 66 percent of women reported that after feeling attracted to another person initially, the attraction ended after the first kiss, Fisher said.

Looking at a sample of more than 1,000 college students, Gallup and colleagues found that women also tend to emphasize kissing more than men, and are much more likely to insist on kissing before a sexual encounter.

A person receives information about the person he or she is smooching by locking lips, Fisher said. A kiss transmits smells, tastes, sound and tactile signals that all affect how the individuals perceive each other and, ultimately, whether they will want to kiss again.

Women tend to be attracted to male partners with a different immune system makeup from their own, Fisher said. They subconsciously detect information about a partner's immune system through smell during kissing, she said.

Research led by Wendy Hill, professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, looked at how kissing affects the hormones oxytocin, sometimes called the "love hormone," which is associated with social bonding, and cortisol, a measure of stress.

The first experiment, which took place in a student health center, looked at college students age 18 to 22, and examined hormone levels in 15 heterosexual couples. In the control group, participants held hands and talked with their partner while music played. In the experimental group, participants were told to open-mouth kiss their partner for the length of the music -- 16 minutes.

The results showed that oxytocin levels in the women decreased after the session, but increased in the men. Researchers had expected those levels to go up in both genders; the decrease for women may have resulted from the artificial setting of the student health center, researchers theorize.

A second experiment in a more romantic setting -- a secluded room with jazz music, flowers and electric candles -- looked at nine heterosexual couples and three lesbian couples.

Researchers found that the longer the relationship of a couple, the more the cortisol levels declined in both partners. The heterosexual women, moreover, said they felt greater intimacy with their partners than the heterosexual men or the homosexual women did, while all groups expressed equal satisfaction in kissing their partners. The researchers are in the process of analyzing oxytocin levels in this experiment.

On the basis of brain imaging, Fisher proposes that there are three distinct brain systems involved in mating and reproduction: sex drive, romantic love, and attachment. Sex drive compels us to seek partners, romantic love tells us to commit to one, and attachment helps us "tolerate this person at least long enough" to have a child, she said. Kissing evolved to stimulate all three of these systems, she said.

Kissing "can really either escalate a relationship or really kill it," Fisher said.

We feel such sensitivity to kissing partially because of the way our brain is structured, Fisher said. The somatosensory cortex, which extends from one side of the brain to the other, has a large portion devoted to picking up signals from the lips, tongue, nose and cheek areas around the mouth.

"You can really get poked in the back and not feel it very much, but just a feather around your lips and you really do feel it," she said.

As for the origins of kissing, one theory is that kissing evolved as an extension of the way mothers used to feed their children. Early humans, who lacked jars of manufactured baby food, probably chewed up food and directly transferred it from their mouths to the babies', Gallup wrote.

Fascinating that women are typically more attracted to men with different immunities. Note that the studies mentioned in this article sound like sketchy preliminary studies, but it's still an interesting concept: the physiology of kissing.

A few questions to stimulate discussion:
What do you get out of a kiss?
Does your partner seem to enjoy kissing as much as you do?
Do you think that gender impacts how much you enjoy a kiss?
Can you point us to any more-substantial studies that deal with kissing?

_____________________________________________________________
My responses:
What do you get out of a kiss?
I enjoy kissing. It's relaxing, calming. I find it's especially enjoyable to have a good long kissing session at the end of a long day. I do find kissing more soothing than sex, though kissing during sex is the ultimate in relaxation.
Does your partner seem to enjoy kissing as much as you do?
My husband seems to be indifferent about kissing. He sees how much I like it, though, and so he gets a kick out of my response. He rarely is in the mood for an all-out makeout session unless there is sex involved. I'm in the mood for sex at the end of a kissing session, so I guess it works out.
Do you think that gender impacts how much you enjoy a kiss?
While there is an obvious difference in the level of enjoyment from a kiss between my husband and I, I do not think his indifference has as much to do with gender as other factors.
Can you point us to any more-substantial studies that deal with kissing?
I'm interested in what other folks can come up with here.

Thanks!

Hmm.. interesting.. I guess there's a study for everything these days.

as far as I go.. I'm pretty indifferent to it. I mean it's good and all, just depends on what's going on. I'm not the type to give a kiss every time I leave the house or come home or just because.. :shrug:

My wife likes to give kisses before leaving, arriving home and just because.. sometimes I'm annoyed by it.. I dunno why, maybe because I'm trying to do something else or just don't see the need in it.

I enjoy kissing if the person I am kissing is good at it. I am really picky, if it does not meet my standards I simply won't kiss you.

I find that I get tired of kissing after a while, when I was reading that study and it said that people kissed for 16 min I thought to myself "damn thats a long time". I just can't do those huge make out sessions. If there were other things involved, like doing other sexual things for a while or wrestling around or what have you, then yea I could kiss all day, but straight kissing wears on me.

I also believe kissing should be left at home, behind closed doors, unless its a simple peck. There are few things I hate more than people who are slobbering all over each others faces right in front of me. The only time I can stand that is if I am really drunk and at a party or something. I really do not like those PDA's

Wow, there's a study for it, hmmmmm ... I am also very picky but only because I kiss when I can .. :D ...,
What do you get out of a kiss?
I get from a kiss a sense of elation that disappears as fast as it came when I stop. Thus the compulsive behavior.

Does your partner seem to enjoy kissing as much as you do?
No partner, and I just can't kiss anyone so when I do get the chance, 16mins just ain't enough. When I'm kissing, I definitely want more than just that. Which comes to show how horny I am **read 24/7/365

Do you think that gender impacts how much you enjoy a kiss?
Like, Duh...

I enjoy kissing my current SO very much. It's strange because I never liked kissing before I met him. I have always been pretty sexual, but I would forgo long kissing sessions and just get to it. No matter how attracted I was to someone, I just didn't enjoy kissing.

Now I love it. I still don't want long drawn out kissing sessions, but we do it just right. It usually leads to more.

I think I enjoy it slightly more than my man, but I could be wrong.

I don't think gender has anything to do with it.

I really don't know what has changed or what is different to make me like something I could do without before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru (Post 2595566)

Kissing is for sex.

*cough*bullshit*cough*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crompsin (Post 2595576)

*cough*bullshit*cough*

It's the only time I use it.

It's completely optional, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru (Post 2595629)

It's the only time I use it.

I had an interesting response to this, but I'll pass.

I absolutely adore kissing...soft, gentle kissing, breathless, passionate kissing....it's all good. But of course it has to be with someone skilled in the art--nothing worse than boring kissing.

My gentleman friend is a excellent kisser. I don't think that he enjoys it quite as much as I do, but he's definitely a sport. He loves getting me worked up, and knows just how to kiss me to accomplish that goal.

I'm not sure that gender plays that huge a role. I've been with men who love kissing just as much as I do.

How much I like kissing depends on the girl I'm kissing. With some girls, the experiance is great and it becomes almost addictive. With others, things just never feel quite right. I tend to date girls that are good kissers longer than the girls that aren't.

My wife & I are approaching our 22 wedding anniversary, kissing isn't what it used to be.

Interesting, Anormalguy. From your tone it seems as though kissing isn't as enjoyable now. What has changed?

Quote:

What do you get out of a kiss?

Hopefully not herpes.

I see kissing (on the upper lips) as a useful step to elevate the level of intimacy. I'll enjoy her enjoying it, but otherwise it doesn't do much for me. Kissing on other parts of the body is a different matter.

I have clearly been oblivious. It's a real let down to know most guys don't seem to enjoy kissing as much as us girls. :( I mean if it's just ok, then why bother? Meh. I'm in a fowl mood today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by little_tippler (Post 2596672)

...to know most guys don't seem to enjoy kissing as much as us girls. :( I mean if it's just ok, then why bother?

Some obtain some level of pleasure when they see what kissing does for their partner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by genuinegirly (Post 2596092)

Interesting, Anormalguy. From your tone it seems as though kissing isn't as enjoyable now. What has changed?

Kissing is still enjoyable, we just don't do it as often or for as long as we used to.

As to what has changed, I'm not sure, I guess that we gradually settled into a relationship where we don't need to re-affirm our feelings for one another as often.

Quote:

Originally Posted by little_tippler (Post 2596672)

I have clearly been oblivious. It's a real let down to know most guys don't seem to enjoy kissing as much as us girls. :( I mean if it's just ok, then why bother? Meh. I'm in a fowl mood today.

If you weren't all the way over in Europe I'd offer to prove you wrong :suave:

Whether reinforcing love, lust, infatuation, or beer goggles, kissing is a way to express your feelings about someone you're attracted to through tactile sensation and expressing trust at a basic, biological level by completely letting your guard down to them. It also just feels good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSD (Post 2596769)

If you weren't all the way over in Europe I'd offer to prove you wrong :suave:

Damn it MSD... I was gonna say that... (But then I got all shy and couldn't do it)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starkizzer (Post 2596813)

I'm okay with kissing, it doesn't always do much for me but then other times kissing makes me melt. Depends on the day.

im2smrt4u is an entirely different story. If I try to just give him a quick kiss hes trying to pin me against a wall for a full blown make out session. He tells me all the time how much he enjoys it and how much he gets out of it.
-----Added 18/2/2009 at 12 : 14 : 36-----
I'm okay with kissing, it doesn't always do much for me but then other times kissing makes me melt. Depends on the day.

im2smrt4u is an entirely different story. If I try to just give him a quick kiss hes trying to pin me against a wall for a full blown make out session. He tells me all the time how much he enjoys it and how much he gets out of it.

Dejavu anyone?!?!

@ MSD and WK, thanks for the offer ;)

I'm glad not all guys are that jaded about kissing.

I love kissing, from little ones to more intense ones. I don't think I get tired of them, unless the guy I'm kissing decides on a marathon...that makes my jaw hurt lol
In fact, come to think of it, I love to see people kiss in porn, it turns me on a lot. Maybe because most porn seems so impersonal, the kissing makes it a little more real.

I guess I just need to find me a man who is into kissing as much as I am and I'll do fine. What I'd hate is to think that maybe he's pretending to enjoy it just because I do. That's just not worth doing to me. If you're having to pretend to be someone you're not, then you«re not with the right person. There is compromise, yes, but then there is changing yourself to please someone else.

I've had a few one night stands before.. sometimes with men I wasn't very attracted to (but they were a bootycall, so whatever), and kissing one night stands can't even compare to kissing my boyfriend.

With one night stands I can taste what they just drank or ate and I can feel every single one of their tastebuds. While, with my boyfriend, I'm more into the feeling of being with him and tasting him tasting me than anything else. Kissing my boyfriend turns me on so much while kissing someone I don't love romantically is just sort of a filler for in between acts.

Kissing is fun, but not something that holds my complete attention while doing so. I remember once after school, I was making out behind a store were we hung out, and the owner was playing table hockey with one of the guys. I was listening to the game and kept score while spending some intimate time with Jenny. I'm surprised she didn't notice the games going on with all the noise those guys made :)

Put your tongue in my mouth and take the words right out of it.

Sometimes it's the only way to shut me up.

Hey Ring, isn't this a pic of the singing group TATU?

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...en_Kissing.jpg