接吻让人愉快源于荷尔蒙的分泌
2009-02-13
The reason that kissing feels so pleasurable is that it sparks a surge of hormones in our brains, according to new research.
Couples who share a passionate kiss this Valentine's Day will enjoy sensations of relaxation and excitement because of a complex series of chemical processes, as well as their love for their partners.
The study showed that women need more than just a kiss to experience the same chemical high as men - with additional features such as a romantic atmosphere of dimmed lights and mood music also required.
Wendy Hill, professor of psychology at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania began the research to find out why the mundane physical activity of rubbing lips can elicit such a gratifying emotional response.
Her team tested the levels of two hormones, cortisol and oxytocin, in 15 couples before and after holding hands and kissing.
They found that kissing reduced the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in both sexes. But levels of oxytocin, a hormone linked to social bonding that they expected to be boosted by kissing, only rose among the men.
The scientists have since replicated the tests in more intimate settings, to see if the less-than-alluring environment of the university health centres where the original research was carried out hampered women's hormonal surge.
The final results will be presented at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago this week.
"This study shows kissing is much more complex and causes hormonal changes and things we never thought occurred," said Prof Hill.
"We tend to think more about who we are kissing and how it feels, yet there are a lot of other things happening."
It is not clear how kissing provokes such hormonal reactions, but some scientists believe they are triggered by the exchange of pheromones – chemicals our bodies release to attract sexual partners – in the saliva.
This interaction may also have health benefits. Helen Fisher of Rutgers University, New Jersey, said: "If you share your germs with somebody, you're boosting your internal defence system."
This is not the first research to analyse the physical effects of kissing. In 2007 British scientists measured the brain and heart activity sparked by passionate kissing, but found it was less intense that the stimulation produced by eating chocolate.
Romantic love has also been shown to have a close link to neurological activity, with scans showing that it has similar effect to cocaine on our brains.
根据新的研究,接吻让人感到愉快的原因是它刺激大脑大量地分泌荷尔蒙.
因为一系列复杂的化学过程和他们彼此之间的爱,情人节热吻的情侣们可以感受到放松和兴奋.
研究表明女性要达到和男性同样高的化学反应,一个吻是不够的--还需要例如昏暗夜里一个浪漫的气氛和曼妙音乐.
Wendy Hill,宾夕法尼亚拉法叶大学心理学教授,开始研究为什么摩擦嘴唇这样的身体活动可以引起愉悦的情感反应.
她的团队测试了15对情侣牵手和接吻后皮质醇和催产素两种荷尔蒙的分泌水平.