Details
Right Til(t) Kiss!
01-Jul-2019
”
By Meghna
Humans generally turn right and down when lip locking
Have you ever noticed, that majority of the couples engrossed in lip lock have their heads tilted towards their right? If you haven’t, just try remembering your first kiss… and you might realize that your head automatically tilts towards your right.
Why is it so?
Scientists have realized that it’s not only about the kiss. But, in case of ‘touching others in social context’ the people tend to tilt their head towards right or ‘exercise a lateral preference’. The touch here in this context might be cuddling, greeting someone or any such social touch which is emotive in nature, the scientists say.
There are many theories as to the causes. In a review article published in the online journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, published last month, researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and Victoria University of Wellington compiled available data, and analyzed it to verify and validate this theory.
One may tend to believe that the ‘dominant hand’ (right handed majority) propensity in social contact explains the right tilt phenomenon, the assumption being that before hugging or kissing, people naturally would use their dominant hand to initiate the intended motion.
The team headed by Associate Professor Sebastian Ocklenburg and Julian Packheiser (Department of Bio-psychology) in Bochum has concluded that the observed results cannot be explained only through the dominant hand tendency alone. The handedness (right or left) plays a role too, but also does ‘Emotional’ context to our physical actions.
Emotions are processed asymmetrically in the brain
The researchers point to a perceptible ‘Left’ shift in emotional (not ‘Neutral’) situations and say emotions are primarily processed in the right brain hemisphere, that controls physical movement of the left side of the body. “There is ample evidence of interaction and interconnection of motor networks and emotional networks in the brain. The theory of right-hemispheric processing of emotions is backed by behavioural data from studies on social touch as well as by results gained in imaging and neurophysiological studies,” says Ocklenburg.
According to the authors, the asymmetry present in human social touch is best explained by a combination of motor preferences impacted by the human brain’s right-hemispheric emotional dominance.
“Human population largely prefers to tilt the head to the right when kissing, to initiate a hug with the right hand (outstretched) and also to cradle a baby in the left arm,” says Julian Packheiser adding, “According to our theory, the dominant hand remains available in this way while the left hand is cradling the child and ready to use according to the infants requirements.”
“Since social touches are often related to a hand motion, it is only the obvious assumption that (right) handedness impacts lateral preferences,” says Sebastian Ocklenburg. In the review article, the researchers have listed numerous studies to substantiate the influence of (right) handedness while also emphasizing Emotional’ context as a relevant corollary to the former theory.
“In emotional situations, the lateral preference is to the right side,” says Packheiser. and adds,“It doesn’t matter if emotions are positive or negative.” According to them where preference is concerned, it is irrelevant if two people hug because they are just happy to see each other, or in order to comfort one another.”
“By Meghna
Humans generally turn right and down when lip locking
Have you ever noticed, that majority of the couples engrossed in lip lock have their heads tilted towards their right? If you haven’t, just try remembering your first kiss… and you might realize that your head automatically tilts towards your right.
Why is it so?
Scientists have realized that it’s not only about the kiss. But, in case of ‘touching others in social context’ the people tend to tilt their head towards right or ‘exercise a lateral preference’. The touch here in this context might be cuddling, greeting someone or any such social touch which is emotive in nature, the scientists say.
There are many theories as to the causes. In a review article published in the online journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, published last month, researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and Victoria University of Wellington compiled available data, and analyzed it to verify and validate this theory.
One may tend to believe that the ‘dominant hand’ (right handed majority) propensity in social contact explains the right tilt phenomenon, the assumption being that before hugging or kissing, people naturally would use their dominant hand to initiate the intended motion.
The team headed by Associate Professor Sebastian Ocklenburg and Julian Packheiser (Department of Bio-psychology) in Bochum has concluded that the observed results cannot be explained only through the dominant hand tendency alone. The handedness (right or left) plays a role too, but also does ‘Emotional’ context to our physical actions.
Emotions are processed asymmetrically in the brain
The researchers point to a perceptible ‘Left’ shift in emotional (not ‘Neutral’) situations and say emotions are primarily processed in the right brain hemisphere, that controls physical movement of the left side of the body. “There is ample evidence of interaction and interconnection of motor networks and emotional networks in the brain. The theory of right-hemispheric processing of emotions is backed by behavioural data from studies on social touch as well as by results gained in imaging and neurophysiological studies,” says Ocklenburg.
According to the authors, the asymmetry present in human social touch is best explained by a combination of motor preferences impacted by the human brain’s right-hemispheric emotional dominance.
“Human population largely prefers to tilt the head to the right when kissing, to initiate a hug with the right hand (outstretched) and also to cradle a baby in the left arm,” says Julian Packheiser adding, “According to our theory, the dominant hand remains available in this way while the left hand is cradling the child and ready to use according to the infants requirements.”
“Since social touches are often related to a hand motion, it is only the obvious assumption that (right) handedness impacts lateral preferences,” says Sebastian Ocklenburg. In the review article, the researchers have listed numerous studies to substantiate the influence of (right) handedness while also emphasizing Emotional’ context as a relevant corollary to the former theory.
“In emotional situations, the lateral preference is to the right side,” says Packheiser. and adds,“It doesn’t matter if emotions are positive or negative.” According to them where preference is concerned, it is irrelevant if two people hug because they are just happy to see each other, or in order to comfort one another.”
