The Yawn Explained: It Cools Your Brain | Hacker News Reader

The Yawn Explained: It Cools Your Brain

dsc.discovery.com

35 pointseisokant24 comments

I'm not buying this. And why didn't they study humans?

The explanation I heard many many years ago still seems right: yawning gets you more oxygen.

And if you need to test that, next time you feel the urge (meeting?), just breath deeply and it will go away.

"And why didn't they study humans?"

"He and colleagues Michael Miller and Anne Clark analyzed yawning in parakeets as representative vertebrates because the birds have relatively large brains, live wild in Australia, which is subject to frequent temperature swings, and, most importantly, do not engage in contagious yawning, as humans and some other animals do."

A rush of blood to the head would have a cooling effect in addition to providing the needed oxygen. I think that the two go hand-in-hand.

Interesting hypothesis, not sure I buy it. Doesn't explain to me still why it's 'contagious.'

"Because, statistically speaking, if conditions have induced a yawn in one person (according to these reasons), anybody else in the immediate area is likely to have the same conditions too."

Quoted because I'm just proposing it, not claiming it is true.

Then why the yawning when reading the article?

My speculation: because there are no drawbacks to yawning too much, we've evolved to yawn with even the slightest triggers.

       My speculation: because there are no drawbacks to yawning 
       too much, we've evolved to yawn with even the slightest triggers.

Unless, of course, you're talking to your wife/husband/whatever and a case of the yawns kicks in.

"Sorry honey, I was thinking very intently about the deep thought you just shared, and my brain just needed some additional cooling."

Get out of jail free...

The funny thing is I often yawn when I'm really paying attention. It still doesn't go over well. :(

Misfire. Evolutionary adaptions aren't perfect. It could be that thinking about yawning in a certain way fires off the same response as viewing others around us yawn.

What was so wrong with this question?

And contagious it is -- I couldn't stop yawning the whole time I read the article.

I take it you don't buy the hypothesis that is sitting right there in the article?

Contagious yawning is thought to be an evolved mechanism for keeping groups alert so they "remain vigilant against danger," Gallup said.

There's even a link to a related article on contagious yawning:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/contagious-yawn.htm

The scientists described in this article took some pains to ensure they were studying spontaneous yawning instead of contagious yawning:

He and colleagues Michael Miller and Anne Clark analyzed yawning in parakeets as representative vertebrates because the birds have relatively large brains, live wild in Australia, which is subject to frequent temperature swings, and, most importantly, do not engage in contagious yawning, as humans and some other animals do.

Well, yawning equalizes air pressure in your inner ear (let's say decreasing the pressure). If I decrease the pressure inside my head, Boyle's Law dictates that must increases the pressure outside of my head (ie, the entire earth's atmosphere).

Which means everybody around me now needs to equalize the air pressure in their head. So they yawn.

Duh!

It's been suggested contagious yawning could be a result of an unconscious herding behaviour - a subtle way to communicate to those around us, similar to when flocks of birds take flight at the same time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6270036.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron

Interesting theory, but I want them to comment on exercise. I don't yawn much when I work out - sometimes, but rarely. This could be explained by the fact that usually when I get the hottest, I'm in a hot environment. But that's not awlays the case.

So, does this mean that we can use yawning as a tool to focus (as long as the ambient temperature isn't too high?)

Ok, now please explain hiccups.

Diaphragm spasms.

So why then aren't fevers associated with yawning?

how come you yawn just when you wake up?

From page 2: "Prior studies reveal yawning leads to a heightened state of arousal, so a morning yawn may function somewhat like a cup of coffee in providing a jolt of energy."

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