| Why Is Yawning Contagious? |
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The funny thing about yawning is that it really seems contagious. When we see or hear someone else yawn we cannot help but yawn ourselves, as if we have no control over this sudden urge or impulse. Sometimes we'll try to restrain our yawns by holding our jaws shut and ignoring the impulse, yet this strangely leaves us feeling like we will need to yawn eventually anyway just to satisfy ourselves. Of course, theories of its contagiousness may never really be proven; still, they are interesting to think about. Here is just one of the many! The most common belief about why we yawn at all is that our lungs are not getting enough oxygen. However, a number of different studies have been done and the conclusion is that this may not entirely be the reason. People yawn when they are tired, sleepy, bored, physically exhausted and even when they are not physically exhausted. Blind people will yawn, too, even if they can only hear the yawn. Point is, we all yawn - at different times of the day and because of different circumstances - yawning is a normal function and we all do it, but is it really only because we don't have enough oxygen in our lungs? Indeed, it does help the body consume more oxygen but this does not explain our uncontrollable urge to imitate each other when we see it going on. Yawning generally begins in people who are either bored or tired. In a way this can be seen as being connected to not getting enough oxygen; if you are tired or sleepy your lungs are going at a much slower rate and then you will yawn, taking in more oxygen. However, while 'why we yawn' is not exactly at the top of research priority, there is still some quiet interest in how, or if, this behaviour can be traced back to our ancestors. The question is, could this be another case of monkey see, monkey do? Typically, yawning could possibly be seen as a form of communication between apes. If one is bored, they will yawn to signal to the group that it would like to move to a different location or do something different within the group's activity. The theory is that when one yawned, the others will react in the same way to signify their agreement. Our minds are neurologically still being developed for ancestorial life thousands of years ago. At the same time, our minds have also developed in areas of thought processes. We are allowed thoughts about thoughts about thoughts and more reasoning to these thoughts than we had in our monkey days. Because of this it is easy to see why we may not necessarily use yawning as a form of communication anymore, especially if we don't always agree. Now, how many times did you yawn while reading this article? I yawned six times while writing the introduction, then less and less as I wrote more about the evolution aspect. How many times did you yawn? Bibliography Ask Us of UofT Neuroscience for Kids If you'd like to read a list of other theories, there is a list of them here at Yahoo! Answers. Written by CJ H, 2006. Last updated Jun 21 2007. |