Love chocolate? British researchers said they were stunned to discover that people get more of a buzz from eating chocolate than passionately kissing their lovers. "These results really surprised and intrigued us," said psychologist David Lewis, who led a study that recorded brain activity and heart rate from volunteers who tasted pieces of dark chocolate or kissed their partners. "There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz -- a buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss." While researchers expected chocolate, especially dark chocolate, to raise heart rates, he said, "both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated." The 12 volunteers, all aged in their 20s, wore heart monitors and had electrodes attached to their heads as each placed a piece of dark chocolate on the tongue and, without chewing, indicated when it started to melt. Couples were later invited to kiss each other in the same way as they would do normally. The study found that -- at the point chocolate melts in the mouth -- all areas of the brain are stimulated far more intensely and for longer than from kissing. Chocolate also made the heart beat faster, according to the study supervised by Lewis, a formerly University of Sussex psychologist who now runs a private research company called The Mind Lab. Some people saw the number of heart beats per minute rise from a resting rate of about 60 to as high as 140. Kissing also made the couples' hearts pound, but not for as long. Both sexes showed the same responses in the tests. (Reuters)

英國研究人員稱，他們驚訝的發現吃巧克力比熱烈的親吻更能讓人興奮。 心理學家大衛·劉易斯說，“研究結果讓我們很驚訝，同時也引起了我們的興趣。”他領導的研究小組對志愿者在吃黑巧克力和親吻愛人時的腦部活動和心率進行了記錄。 “巧克力輕而易舉地‘打敗’了熱吻，能使身體和腦部的興奮持續更久，在很多情況下，巧克力引起的興奮持續時間是最熱烈的吻的四倍。” 他說，根據研究人員的預想，巧克力，尤其是黑巧克力，可以使心跳加速。“讓我們都沒想到的是，巧克力不僅使志愿者心跳加速的時間延長，而且還對腦部產生了巨大影響。” 年齡均為20多歲的12名志愿者身上連著心臟監測儀，頭上連著電極，然后每個人把一塊黑巧克力放在舌頭上，不嚼，以便觀察它何時開始融化。 之后，研究人員讓這些情侶按照平時的方式互相親吻。 研究發現，在巧克力開始融化的時候，腦部各個區域所受到的刺激要比接吻時強烈得多，而且持續的時間更長。 研究還發現，巧克力還會使心臟跳得更快。負責指導這項研究的劉易斯曾是英國蘇塞克斯大學的心理學家，目前正在經營一家名為"大腦實驗室"的私人研究公司。 有些人的心臟每分鐘搏動次數從靜止狀態的60次左右增加到140次。親吻也能使心跳更有力，但持續的時間沒那么長。 男性和女性志愿者的試驗結果相同。 （實行生江巍 英語點津姍姍編輯）