Dec 17, 2010 5:08 PM

What Does Kissing Tell you about Compatibility?

I’ve been accepting questions on my tumblr site about The Science of Kissing, and just chose the first to answer. Annknee asked: What does kissing tell you about being compatible? Quite simply: A LOT! When we kiss another person, we employ all of our senses. During a passionate kiss, our bodies use this information to […]

I've been accepting questions on my tumblr site about The Science of Kissing, and just chose the first to answer.

Annknee asked: What does kissing tell you about being compatible?

Quite simply: A LOT! When we kiss another person, we employ all of our senses. During a passionate kiss, our bodies use this information to evaluate compatibility and determine whether to take things further. Some occurs at the conscious level such as interpreting signals like taste and breath. Other information is processed subconciously. In fact, there’s science to suggest that a kiss reveals information about a partner’s very DNA, so you instinctively sense whether you may be a good genetic match.
More on that in the book…

Tumblr questions are piling in and readers are welcome to submit your own in comments below...

Sheril Kirshenbaum is a research scientist at UT Austin's Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy. She is author of The Science of Kissing and Unscientific America. ... Read More

Topicsscience of kissing

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