12 years ago, my 2nd book, The Science of Kissing (Hachette, 2011) came out. It’s about the neuroscience, biology, evolution, history, real chemistry & potential future of connection.
With #ValentinesDay around the corner, would fellow #science & #culture nerds on #Mastodon be interested in a few facts & stories from the book?
With a few exceptions, the literature on face recognition and its neural basis derives from the presentation of single faces. However, in many ecologically typical situations, we see more than one face, in different communicative contexts.
Fascinating MEG study of #Kissing! As a grief researcher, I use images of the participant's one-and-only in fMRI, and we see stronger activity than to a stranger. I wonder #WhatWouldHappen with images of kissing your partner?
The name of the Chinese version is odd, which literally means women choose men by kissing (女人用吻選擇男人). The meaning is changed from the original “the science of kissing”. I haven’t seen the contents yet, but if I have to choose which version to read, I will definitely choose the English one.
I don’t know why the translator didn’t just translate the name directly, such as “接吻的科學”. In addition, the covers of other translations are more attractive and more in keeping with the style of the original. In fact, this style of cover is not uncommon in China, which often gives the reader the impression that there is a lack of rigor and is just for entertainment and leisure. I believe this is already against your intention of writing this book.
Yes, please! Facts and stories from the book "The Science of Kissing" is the kind of cutting edge knowledge propagation we should all be paying close attention to.
A Science of Kissing thread it is! I’ll add to this 🧵 until Valentines Day:
1) Lips are the body’s most exposed erogenous zone. Unlike in other animals, human lips are uniquely everted, meaning they purse outwardly.
Kissing is about more than romance or bacterial exchange. Our 1st experiences with love, security & closeness often involve lip pressure & stimulation through nursing or bottle feeding. This lays down neural pathways in a baby’s brain that associate kissing with positive emotions.
@Sheril. Yes, Sheril! The most beautiful, pure, and satisfying experience is first conveyed to us by our mom! Even before a child is aware of any other language, word, or emotion. A kiss 💋 is a beautifully soothing and secure emotion known universally.👍🏼😊❤️🤗💋💋💋
2) The first literary evidence for kissing dates back thousands of years to India’s Vedic Sanskrit texts in moments such as lovers “setting mouth to mouth” & a man “drinking the moisture of the lips” of a woman.
Even Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology, was fascinated by kissing across cultures. He discussed what he observed in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man & Animals, concluding that the drive for humans to “kiss” in some form appears to be innate.
Hmm. There are at least two verbs for kiss in Sanskrit: √cumb and √niṃs. Moreover, there are several direct references to kissing in Ṛgveda, Book I Hymn 144, verse 1 pada d
yā́ asya dhā́ma prathamáṃ ha níṃsate "they kiss [níṃsate] his first location"
So the statement about "the Vedas" is simply false.
@jayarava Interesting, I will have to explore that. The historian I interviewed as part of that chapter on the history of kissing passed away a few years ago. I’ll edit that toot.
3) Meet the sensory homunculus. It's like a brain's-eye view of the body where each part is sized according to how much neural real estate goes toward processing sensory information related to touch there. As you can see, the lips & tongue are packed with sensitive nerve endings, helping us interpret our world.
We see many kissing-like behaviors in all sorts of species, but we don't call it “kissing” because scientists don't want to anthropomorphize & don’t know what motivates an animal. That said, these behaviors are always about a socially significant connection.
Chapter 2 of The Science of Kissing goes into detail describing how "kissing-like behaviors" can serve a variety of purposes from affection to feeding to con...
@Sheril, I am often not happy when people say we should not anthropomorphise because it often boils down to 'animals are different and can' 't have the same emotions'. And I think 'why the heck not and what makes us so high and mighty to think that?'. So, go ahead and anthropomorphise if you like ☺️
5) During a passionate kiss, our blood vessels dilate & we receive more oxygen to the brain. Our breathing can deepen & become irregular. Our cheeks flush & our pulse quickens.
And our pupils dilate, which may be one reason so many of us close our eyes. Artist: Wim Delvoye.
Considering how oversexually active the world is today I'm kinda surprised that another area want blown up but definitely sum good facts to kno.I dont think I ever put that much thought into it like that
Is the lower lip that much more sensitive than the upper lip? I’ve never thought about it before and now I’m sitting here poking my lips trying to feel a difference.
once i spent a few hours walking around the woods with my eyes closed. was fascinating. my fingers weren't sensitive enough and i evenutally ended up putting everything to my lips.
@deightonrobbie We interpret the world through our mouths in so many more ways than most of us are aware of. Just think about the way infants put nearly everything they encounter into their mouths.
Jody Still Writes
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in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •How much experimentation did it require ?
Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Lien Rag • • •We published this paper on the research ⬇️
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26287497/
A kiss is not a kiss: visually evoked neuromagnetic fields reveal differential sensitivities to brief presentations of kissing couples - PubMed
PubMedMary-Frances O'Connor
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@Sheril @lienrag
Research — Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD
Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhDDan Preston
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in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •#PropagationStation #YouMustRememberThis #KissingIsGoodForEverything #AKissIsJustASigh
Julie
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •1) Lips are the body’s most exposed erogenous zone. Unlike in other animals, human lips are uniquely everted, meaning they purse outwardly.
Kissing is about more than romance or bacterial exchange. Our 1st experiences with love, security & closeness often involve lip pressure & stimulation through nursing or bottle feeding. This lays down neural pathways in a baby’s brain that associate kissing with positive emotions.
Sheril Kirshenbaum reshared this.
Sudhir
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Even Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology, was fascinated by kissing across cultures. He discussed what he observed in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man & Animals, concluding that the drive for humans to “kiss” in some form appears to be innate.
Jayarava
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •yā́ asya dhā́ma prathamáṃ ha níṃsate
"they kiss [níṃsate] his first location"
So the statement about "the Vedas" is simply false.
Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Jayarava • • •RFanciola
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •tbgosalvez
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •David Martinez
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •We see many kissing-like behaviors in all sorts of species, but we don't call it “kissing” because scientists don't want to anthropomorphize & don’t know what motivates an animal. That said, these behaviors are always about a socially significant connection.
https://youtu.be/7ykfQANwS_w
Animal Kisses
YouTubeWinjay
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Winjay • • •I like to say our dog, Happy, likes to lick every noun - person, place or thing ☺️
Winjay
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in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •🌼 Dagnabbit, Pascaline! 🌼
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Jabsonik
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Probably the affection comes through, but what else?
Marc
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Lasha
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •And our pupils dilate, which may be one reason so many of us close our eyes.
Artist: Wim Delvoye.
Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •From Vox’s “Why We Kiss, Explainer” by Xulin Wang. (Also from my book, see references) https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-highlight/2019/12/4/20992196/kiss-kissing-why-science
Kissing, explained
Xulin Wang (Vox)James M.
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Unknown parent • • •And it’s male (of course…)
Digori
in reply to ChrisMP 😷💉💉💉 • • •Of course 😂. Indeed it would be quite interesting to have the female version (never seen it)
Digori
Unknown parent • • •This representation concerns the cortex specifically dedicated to touch. It does not include other senses such as vision, taste or smell… 😉
Sheril Kirshenbaum
in reply to Digori • • •I’ve seen a female version by an artist. Will see if I can find it.
Sheril Kirshenbaum
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