Name: The Science of Kissing
Rating: 4.2 (236 reviews)
Author: Sheril Kirshenbaum

What’s in it for me? Delve into the depths of kissing research.

Clearly, kissing is immensely important for our romantic relationships. Can you imagine a Hollywood movie portraying a fiery love story without a few close-up kissing scenes?

But as you’ll learn from these blinks, there’s much more to it. Not only does it fulfill a multitude of different functions for the human species and our communities, most animals – even porcupines – like to kiss as well, and with good reason. These blinks will bring you up to date on the science of kissing, including what we now know about kissing’s remarkable effects on our brain and our health.

By reading these blinks, you’ll also find out

why we use an “X “to symbolize a kiss in texts and online chat, and how this relates to the Middle Ages;
how kissing can work like a genetic test; and
about the connection of kissing and cocaine.

We learn to associate lip contact with love and trust early on in life.

Nearly everyone enjoys kissing, but most of us rarely stop to wonder why. The answer is deeply rooted in our biology.

One of the first physically enjoyable sensations we experience is being nursed by our mothers; the use of our lips comes naturally to us. Babies suck their thumbs even when they’re in the womb and purse their lips for nursing as soon as they’re born – the very same lip movement as kissing!

Nursing is very comforting for a baby. It usually takes place in a safe and calm environment, so the baby grows to associate soft pressure on the lips with feeling secure and loved.

Premastication, the process of feeding mouth-to-mouth, was the most practical way to feed babies and toddlers for thousands of years, which also biologically linked positive feelings with lip contact.

Premastication might sound gross to us in the modern world. However, mechanically mashed baby food is a rather recent invention, so pre-chewing food used to be the best way to transition out of breast-feeding.

Other animals like apes and birds use premastication too, and it’s still used by humans in some areas. The first known written records of the practice date back to ancient Egypt, and one study found that 39 out of 119 modern communities investigated still use premastication for feeding, as part of a ritual, for various reasons including disease prevention.

Premastication doesn’t only deepen a baby’s feelings of security, attachment and love. It also transfers the positive association of mouth-to-breast contact to mouth-to-mouth contact, further strengthening the emotional and behavioral foundation for kissing that develops later in life.

And our penchant for kissing isn’t only about feeling love; find out more in the next blinks!

Kissing helps us subconsciously test our compatibility with a potential mate.

In the film Back to the Future, Marty McFly goes back in time and accidentally intercepts the meeting of his parents by making his mother, Lorraine, fall in love with him. When she kisses him, however, it feels wrong to her. “It’s like I’m kissing my brother!” she says.

The scenario is fictional, but the biology behind it is real. Every human and ape has a unique scent because of special glands in our neck, face, armpits and genital area, and when we look for a mate, we seek out one with a smell that’s different from ours. After all, we’re more likely to produce healthy offspring with a person who’s biologically and immunologically different from us.

Kissing is healthy and makes you feel high.

If you’ve kissed someone, you’ve experienced the same kind of high that people get when taking drugs like cocaine.

Your brain gets a burst of energy and a natural high when you kiss someone. When you kiss, your breath gets deeper and your blood vessels dilate, which makes you flush and sends more oxygen to your brain.

Kissing facilitates reproduction by fostering lust, attraction and attachment.

You’ve probably heard of the Kama Sutra, the famous guide to sex, love and marriage rooted in the Hindu tradition. It devotes an entire chapter to the topic of kissing.

Modern science recognizes the importance of kissing just as the Kama Sutra does. After all, it’s part of our evolution: kissing fuels your sex drive and thus makes you more likely to reproduce.

Final Summary

The key message in this book:

Kissing is part of our biology and evolution, which is why it’s so fundamental in both humans and animals. It strengthens our social bonds, makes us healthier and happier, helps us find suitable mates and encourages us to reproduce and further our species. Kissing is a lot more than just a nice feeling!

Kernaussagen in The Science of Kissing