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See the picture above, did you yawn?

Yawning is contagious, a rule that people discovered a long time ago. The theory of "yawning is contagious" was put forward in 1508 and has been studied for hundreds of years since then.

Why on earth did ▲ yawn! Why is yawning contagious? Anyway, yawn first and then... | | Pixabay |

In the course of their research, scientists have also found that this phenomenon is not unique to humans, but also to unborn fetuses, while chimpanzees, cats, dogs and elephants in the animal kingdom can yawn and spread.

In one study, participants yawned in front of the dogs, and 72% of the dogs also began to yawn. Other animals have also shown contagious responses to yawning in other studies, such as chimpanzees, sheep, cats, and even elephants, parrots or reptiles. And in addition to the transmission between the same species, there is also such a reaction between different species. Just as you want to yawn when you see a cat yawn, a cat may yawn when it sees you.

However, as to why yawning is contagious, scientists have not been able to get an accurate answer for a long time. To clarify this problem, we need to start with "Why do you yawn?"

We yawn is usually the process of opening your mouth to take a deep breath and then exhale. Some people have suggested that yawning is actually a cooling mechanism of the brain. They say the brain's working temperature is "too high" before yawning, so it is cooled by gas heat exchange.

Yawning may be a way to cool your head. | | Pixabay |

To support this point, the researchers also came up with fancy experimental methods. For example, putting ice on their heads and requiring them to breathe through their nose can reduce the frequency of yawning infection. For example, if you yawn with earplugs, you can hear the sound of gas exchange and so on. In short, scientists Guttmann and Dopart, who support this theory, believe that through gas exchange, the brain may be cooled or may change the pressure.

These studies show that the frequency of our yawning varies according to ambient temperature, body temperature, and so on. However, this theory has also caused some discussion and controversy. People have other theories that yawning is actually a way for gregarious animals to stay alert.

When people yawn, they may also be in a state of transition, when they are sleepy and now awake, or their attention suddenly increases. Yawning may help us to be more alert and in better shape to face dangers in the environment.

This theory can also explain why animals yawning is contagious. Just because yawning increases alertness, so does watching others (other animals) yawn, says Andrew Gallup, an evolutionary biologist who specializes in yawning. Contagious yawning increases the alertness of the entire group.

In one of his experiments, he asked participants to pick out images of snakes. It was found that the participants' ability to recognize and detect snake images improved rapidly after seeing others yawn. This means that we react more quickly to threats when we see others yawn.

For these gregarious animals, yawning with their companions may also be a sign of empathy or simple imitation. Or the animals can maintain a similar circadian rhythm by yawning together.

Of course, in addition to these theories, some animals yawn really have a special purpose. For example, some penguin couples, yawning with their mouths wide open, are actually courting. The snake appears to be yawning and is probably just adjusting the position of its chin. Other animals, such as guinea pigs, yawn just to show their fangs and show aggressiveness.

Surprisingly, some animals in the water also yawn. But they don't have to absorb water when they yawn. We always think that yawning is to take a big breath of air, but aquatic mammals that breathe with their lungs, such as bottlenose dolphins, do not breathe and just open their mouths wide.

This finding subverts our original definition of yawning, and it has been found that unborn fetuses in amniotic fluid can also yawn. So how much do we not know about yawning?

Another interesting thing is that yawning expert Andrew Gallup mentioned that when he studied yawning, he kept yawning while reading the literature, taking notes and writing papers.

▲, who doesn't yawn? | | Cat No.1, Star of editorial Department |

So how many yawns did you yawn when reading this article?

▲ yawned hard to welcome the beautiful morning! | | Cat No.2, Star of editorial Department |

Reference:

[1] Gallup, A. C., & Gallup Jr, G. G. (2007). Yawning asa brain cooling mechanism: nasal breathing and forehead cooling diminish the incidence of contagious yawning.Evolutionary Psychology, 5 (1), 147470490700500109.

[2] Joly-Mascheroni, R. M., Senju, A., & Shepherd, A.J. (2008). Dogs catch human yawns.Biology Letters, 4 (5), 446,448.

[3] Madsen, E. A., Persson, T.S., Lenninger, S.A., & Sonesson, G. (2013). Chimpanzees show a developmental increase in susceptibility to contagious yawning: a test of the effect of ontogeny and emotional closeness on yawn contagion.PloS one, 8 (10), e76266.

[4] Rossman, Zo ë T.et al. "When yawning occurs in elephants." Frontiers in veterinary science 4 (2017): 22.

[5] Yonezawa, Tomohiro, et al. "Presence of contagious yawning in sheep." Animal Science Journal 88.1 (2017): 195,200.

[6] Van Berlo, Evy, et al. "Experimental evidence for yawn contagion in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)." Scientific reports 10.1 (2020): 1-11.

[7] Massen, Jorg JM, et al. "A thermal window for yawning in humans: yawning as a brain cooling mechanism." Physiology & behavior 130 (2014): 145148.

[8] Enokizu, Akiko, et al. "Yawn-like behavior in captive common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)." Behavioural Processes 189 (2021): 104444.

[9] Gallup, Andrew C. "The causes and consequences of yawning in animal groups." Animal Behaviour 187 (2022): 209219.

Source of the cover: good friends of animals in the editorial department of everything.

This article is from the official Wechat account: bring Science Home (ID:steamforkids), written by: Skin revision: Proxima Star

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