Scientists reveal the real reason we close our eyes
when we kiss
The real reason people close their
eyes when they kiss is because the brain can't deal with more than two things
at once.
That is the finding of academics who
have explored one of the great mysteries of the human psyche.
When people pucker up the brain
finds it difficult to process the sensation if cognitive power is also being
used to analyse what we see, said psychologists from Royal Holloway, University
of London.
'Tactile awareness depends on the
level of perceptual load in a concurrent visual task,' said Polly Dalton and
Sandra Murphy, from the university, in the Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Perception and Performance.
The cognitive psychologists reached
their conclusion without studying people actually kissing.
Instead people were asked do visual
tests while their response to something touching their hands was
measured.
The academics found that the visual
field overrides tactile responses - meaning people would struggle to continue
kissing if what they were looking at became more difficult to process.
Dr Dalton told The Sunday
Times: 'If we are focusing strongly on a visual task, this will reduce our
awareness of stimuli in other senses.
'It is important for designers to be
aware of these effects, because auditory and tactile alerts are often used in
situations of high visual demand, such as driving a car or flying an aircraft.'
The findings could also explain why
people often shut their eyes whilst reading braille or when dancing.
Dr Dalton added: 'These results
could explain why we close our eyes when we want to focus attention on another
sense. Shutting out the visual input leaves more mental resources to focus on
other aspects of our experience.'
Credit: Daily Mail
Drawing the line between rape and a one-night-stand! 
