Why do we Yawn?Is Yawning Contagious?

What is Yawning?

Breathing deeply with mouth wide open, especially when someone is tired or bored. Although humans yawn more often when we're tired or bored, scientists have ruled out sleepiness or lack of oxygen i.e., cause of sleepiness is the main reason for sleeping. Yawning then would be an involuntary reflex action (i.e., something we can't control) to help us manage our oxygen or carbon dioxide levels. Sounds good, but other studies have shown that breathing more oxygen does not decrease yawning. Likewise, breathing more carbon dioxide does not increase yawning. Instead, it is also believed that yawning might help us keep a cool head. As with a super-computer, the brain needs to stay calm to function correctly. Each yawn pumps air into sinus cavities in the head, cooling the brain in the process. Just before going to bed, when we're tired and our mind and body are slightly warmer because of which we tend to yawn.

Is Yawning Contagious?

Absolutely! Yawning is so contagious that even reading about yawning can make you yawn. If so..go ahead and get it out of your system. Studies have shown again and again that people who see other people stretch even in videos are most likely to yawn.

Why is Yawning Contagious?

Yawns don't catch on among children younger than five or among people with emotionally dampening disorders. That leads researchers to believe contagious yawning is just another way humans reinforce social bonds between people. Humans are social and emotional animals. We tend to understand and feel the emotions of friends or even strangers. Yawning falls into this category. That's why when we see someone yawn, we yawn.

Is Yawning Contagious for other Animals Beside Humans?

  • You bet, at least among higher primates such as Chimpanzees and Bonobos(for the same reason as for humans). Even more surprising, experiments show that dogs catch yawns from watching people.
  • Researchers from the University of Tokyo looked at whether dogs are the only non-primate species that could yawn contagiously. So they studied wolves as wolves are the closest living relative of dogs and are social and cooperative just like dogs are.
  • Over 254 hours of observation at a Tokyo zoo, the researchers saw that wolves were more likely to yawn if another nearby wolf has just done so. Female wolves who had a bond had a smaller gap in time between the first and the second yawn, and yawns that were visible were more likely to be contagious than yawns that were just heard.

Some Fun Facts about Yawning!

  1. When do we start yawning? Younger than you might think! Research has shown that 11-week old fetuses yawn as a part of brain development bt it is not contagious in them.
  2. Yawns last an average of 6 sec, and an average men yawn longer than women.
  3. During that 6 sec of yawning, the heart rate can increase by as much as 30 percent.
  4. The average human will yawn around 250,000 times throughout his life.
  5. It's an 80% chance that you might have yawned while reading this whole article.                                                     

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Comments
Norainizah - Mar 21, 2020, 6:54 AM - Add Reply

Im yawning. The people read this will yawn too. Cause its contagious.

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