Are you yawning yet? Thought so. Infectious yawns are both frustrating and fascinating.
Sometimes all it takes is seeing someone yawn, hearing them discuss it, or even reading about it for you to develop an uncontrollable urge to yawn yourself.
We’re all painfully aware that this occurs (it can be extremely embarrassing to be unable to conceal the back of your throat), but have you ever considered why?
We examined yawning, as well as some of the other strange things our bodies do on a daily basis.
What causes us to yawn?
You may have heard that yawning helps your breathing by allowing more oxygen to enter your body and expelling excess carbon dioxide.
However, in the 1980s, a number of experiments were conducted to test this theory, and they all concluded that it is completely false.
Therefore, why do we do it?
According to new research, it may be because yawning cools the brain and prevents it from overheating, similar to how the fan in your laptop does.
Yawning has been linked to fatigue in some studies, and given that you’re more likely to feel drowsy in warm weather, the associations appeared to make sense.
As for contagious yawning, it is believed to be a very ancient form of communication. This is because, as previously stated, it is associated with tiredness, and thus would signal that to everyone around them, synchronizing their body clocks.
Another reason you may yawn is that your body is attempting to wake up. The motion assists in stretching the lungs and their tissues and enables the body’s muscles and joints to flex.
Additionally, it may direct blood flow toward your face and brain, enhancing alertness.
When you yawn, your brain slows down, causing its temperature to drop. When you’re bored, your brain isn’t stimulated and begins to slow down, resulting in a temperature drop.
When you see another person yawn while you are in the same environment, you are exposed to the same temperature.
