Why People Close Their Eyes When Kissing
We (pretty much) all do it: close our eyes while we’re kissing someone.It’s not because our partner is a hideous troll or a repulsive monster, so why do we do it?
Why do people close their eyes when kissing?
A study on vision and tactile sensory experience found that people close their eyes while kissing to allow the brain to focus on the task at hand. Our brains find the sensory process difficult while concentrating on visual stimuli.
When kissing and engaging in other activities enjoyable to our sense of touch — such as slow dancing — people want to focus on the touch, rather than the potentially distracting sensory experiences.
“These results could explain why we close our eyes when we want to focus attention on another sense,” Dr. Dalton said. “Shutting out the visual input leaves more mental resources to focus on other aspects of our experience.”
“Passionate kissing causes our blood vessels to dilate and our brains receive an increase in oxygen. As our heart rate increases, our breathing becomes irregular, our cheeks flush and our pulse quickens. The pupils in the eyes dilate, which is one reason why we may close our eyes.
“Kissing also ignites a mix of positive neurotransmitters, including endorphins dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, and the ‘love hormone,’ oxytocin,” says Dr. Ava Cadell, an AASECT Certified Sex Counselor with Doctorates in Human Behavior and Human Sexuality.
Source