Yawning is something we all do. It is apart of our
biology. But it is like breathing? Is it involuntary or are we just doing it
subconsciously?
You know the old adage about yawning being contagious; do
you think that it is true? It certainly seems to be. But a friend of mine told
me another theory. He heard that it is a sign of sympathy and that sociopaths
do not have an impulse to yawn when they see someone else do it. They are
simply are devoid of feeling.
“Neurologists found through
brain imaging: Contagious yawning is associated with the same parts of the
brain that deal with empathy. These regions, the precuneus and posterior
temporal gyrus, are located in the back of the brain. And although the link
between contagious yawning and empathy has been established, explanations for
the link are still being investigated.”
Apparently it has to do with the perceptive of connectively
and interestingly enough those with Autism or other disorders that effect the
way we perceive other’s emotions affect their rate of contagious yawning.
Steven
Platek, a psychology professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, told Smithsonian
Magazine: “data suggests that you're more likely to catch a yawn from a close
friend or family member than from a stranger.”
It is also worth noting that children under age six do not
have the capacity to contagiously yawn. I suspect that is because their ability
to correctly assess emotions around them is still developing.
I decided to find out the truth.
A yawn is defined as a “reflex consisting of the
simultaneous inhalation of air and the stretching of the eardrums, followed by
an exhalation of breath.”
Well that sounds painful and not at all how I would
describe a yawn if pressed to.
We all know that we yawn when we feel tired and that
occurs most frequently around bedtime or right before we fall asleep. As a
sometimes insomniac, I can tell you that I yawn plenty without ever actually
falling asleep and that is annoying on many levels.
But it turns out contagious yawning, if there is such a
thing, is not human specific and can also be found in chimpanzees, dogs, birds,
and reptiles.
Scientists
have debated whether contagious yawning exists, if so what the causes are, even
why we yawn at all in the first place. The most recent studies found
contrasting opinions.
Duke
University found that factors like empathy, rate of exhaustion, or energy
levels are not relevant to contagious yawning.
But in a
contrary position psychologists at Leeds University in England concluded in
their study “that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. But women, who are
generally considered more emotionally attuned, didn't score any higher than
men”.
So with
empathy being the first possible cause of contagious yawning the second would
be a deep need of oxygen. It is believed that yawning is a way for your body to
purge carbon dioxide and give a jolt of oxygen to your body especially your
brain, especially when you are tired….another symptom of yawning we all
associate with the action.
The third
supposedly cause of yawning deals with the temperature in our brains. There are
those who believe yawning is the way we cool down our brains, there is even a
study that proves people holding ice to their heads effects their relative rate
of yawning.
“That could also help
explain why yawning is so contagious among certain animals: Oxygen levels are
generally a personal thing, but it's the ambient temperature that dictates
whether a yawn will effectively cool down an active brain or not. So if one
member of the group starts yawning to cool down, it makes sense that others
would unconsciously take the hint.”
The last
remaining theories about contagious yawning are about activity or rather
inactivity. It is a way to signal to our brains that it is not time for sleep,
that we are bored, or lastly, nervous. “Paratroopers have been noted to yawn in
the moments before they exit the aircraft.”
I don’t
know which theory I agree with but each sounds plausible.
All I
know is that while writing this I didn’t yawn once despite the heavy weight of
my eyelids from sheer exhaustion. I pray when I climb into bed tonight I yawn
and fall fast asleep. At that point the reason won’t be so important to me.
I wonder
if you too were able to pass the yawn-o-meter.
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