Your lips have a disproportionate number of nerve endings compared to other parts of your body.
2/3 of all kissers tilt their heads to the right. Scientists believe this instinct originates in the womb.
When your lips touch someone else’s, 5 out of 12 of your cranial nerves are engaged. Your brain is basically trying to gather as much as it can about the other person.
The Hays Code in 1930 prevented Hollywood actors from kissing in a horizontal position on the big screen. Also, kisses could not last longer than 3 seconds.
The science of kissing is called philematology, and scientists who study this are called osculologists.
Most people remember their first kiss more vividly than the first time they had sex. John Bohannon of Butler University asked 500 people about their memories of important life experiences, including their first kiss and losing their virginity. The kiss beat everything as the most detailed memory.
When you kiss someone for the first time, you get a spike in the neurotransmitter dopamine, making you crave more.
That dopamine can also make you lose your appetite and make it hard for you to sleep.
Kissing descends form an ancient rat called Eomaia scansoria. It “kissed” mates by rubbing noses to sample pheromones.
Women tend to rate kissing as more important in relationships than men do. A study involving 1,000 college students also found that women tend to use kissing to assess potential mates, while men use it to increase the likelihood of sex.
While kissing, you use 146 muscles, including 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles.
Kissing burns calories, strengthens your immune system, relieves pain and prevents cavities.
When you kiss someone your heart beats faster and more oxygen reaches your brain, all thanks to neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine which promote the fight-or-flightresponse.
Kissing makes your pupils dilate, which might be why we close our eyes.
The world record for the longest kiss is held by Thai couple Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat, who lasted 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds.
The average person spends two weeks of his or her lifetime kissing.
The muscle used to pucker your lips is called the orbicular oris.
The X in XOXO means kiss because in Middle Ages the illiterate people used it as a signature and sealed it with a kiss.
Men who kiss their wives in the morning apparently live 5 years longer than those who don’t.
Kissing helps us work out if someone is a good match. According to biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, we tend to prefer people with particular biological profiles. Trading saliva is one way to figure out if someone is a good fit.
• Don't insult other visitors. Offensive comments will be deleted without warning.
• Comments are accepted in English only.
• No swearing words in comments, otherwise such comments will be censored.
• Your nickname and avatar are randomly selected. If you don't post comments for 7 days, they both are reset.
• To choose another avatar, click the ‘Random avatar’ link.
