| | KISSING |
| | |
| 1 | | Kissing – in the amorous, lip-locking sense – is not practised in all |
| | cultures, so the urge to pucker up cannot be in our genes. Still, you have |
| | to wonder why so many of us do it and why it feels so darn good. There is |
| | no shortage of speculation. |
| 2 | | One idea is that our first experience of comfort, security and love |
| | comes from the mouth sensations associated with breastfeeding. Added |
| | to this, our ancestors probably weaned their babies by mouth-to-mouth |
| | feeding of chewed food, as chimpanzees and some mothers do today, |
| | reinforcing the connection between sharing spit and joy. |
| 3 | | When it comes to the physical aspect of kissing we are on firmer |
| | ground. Our lips are among the most sensitive parts of our bodies, packed |
| | with sensory neurons linked to the brain’s pleasure centres. Kissing has |
| | been shown to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increase |
| | the bonding or ‘love’ hormone, oxytocin. |
| 4 | | The way we assess our biological compatibility with potential partners |
| | may even have a link with kissing. In recent years it has become apparent |
| | that we are most attracted to the smell of sweat from people whose |
| | immune system is most dissimilar from our own – with whom we are likely |
| | to produce the healthiest children. And of course kissing lets us get up |
| | close and personal enough to sniff that out. |
| | |
| | New Scientist, 2009 |
