Why Do Yawns Spread?
Why is yawning contagious? Almost two-thirds of people are sensitive to the contagion of yawning. That is, they will instinctively repeat this behavior if they see that someone is doing it.
The fact is that, among the most common behaviors in humans, yawning is perhaps the least understood. Thus, the explanation for why we yawn has yet to be demonstrated. Although, in any case, this behavior is usually common in other animals such as cats, dogs, apes, etc.
Yawning usually occurs just before sleeping, waking up, when we are hungry or bored. Even just the fact of reading these lines can already induce you to yawn, have you noticed? They have an impressive contagion potential.
Theories about why yawns exist
If this behavior exists, it must be because it has some use. Now what can it be? For many years, various theories have tried to explain it. Let’s see some of the most accepted.
Theory of oxygenation
Its most distal antecedent seems to be in Hippocrates, who defended that yawning eliminated used air and renewed it with clean and fresh air. This hypothesis seems to correspond to the fact that, when oxygen levels decrease due to drowsiness, yawning would be a quick way to inject oxygen into the body.
In any case, it is a controversial theory that, as the researchers point out, has not yet been tested. Therefore, neither the whole idea can be confirmed nor ruled out.
Activation theory
If we are conscious, we yawn when the level of alertness decreases due to drowsiness, boredom, and so on. By yawning, it would redirect attention and give us a necessary extra activation. However, although it seems logical, the idea has not been 100% empirically proven.
It is not that this theory has to be discarded, it is that more research is still needed to allow a causal link between the level of activation and yawning.
Body temperature theory
This is the theory that has gained more force in recent times, since it is the one that provides the most convincing data. According to a study by Gallup, AC, & Eldakar, OT (2013) yawning would help lower the temperature to cool the brain and make it work better.
The data clearly indicate that, before yawning, there is a rise in temperature that drops rapidly after each yawn. If you want to eliminate yawning, nothing like putting a cloth with very cold water on your forehead, as it has a similar effect.
In addition, these data have been successfully replicated in other studies, so the theory is given considerable validity. However, the principal investigator of the study suggests that the previous 3 theories are compatible with each other and that, although this theory has a greater validity, the possibility of a relationship between the three should not be ruled out.
Why is yawning contagious?
As we said before, most people easily catch the yawning of others, as it happens to other higher animals. There are two theories that explain it; We detail them below:
- Yawning helps to synchronize the behaviors of the group. It is part of the imitation behaviors. For example, social animals tend to carry out specific behaviors at the same time. For example, eating, moving, body posture, and so on.
- The second theory refers to empathy. Thus, seeing someone yawn would activate the cerebral circuits of empathy, including mirror neurons, which act as an internal reflection of the movements that we observe of others
We have seen 3 theories that seem to simultaneously explain why yawning. In addition, we review some of the reasons why they are infected. What is your opinion of all this?
