We sometimes feel embarrassed or even ashamed of this behavior that we cannot prevent or stop. “Where did you come from now?” We take our hand to our mouth with our inner voice and try to make this yawn invisible.
Most of us attribute our yawning to fatigue and insomnia, but there are a few other reasons behind this action. If you have started to yawn, we can begin to explain why we are doing this action when we are not sleepy and how it is transmitted.
We each yawn an average of 20 times a day.
While this number is slightly higher in middle age and above, adults with different social development such as autism or schizophrenia do not yawn. Children under the age of 5 only yawn when tired.
Yawning, a reaction to fatigue and a lack of arousal, is a similar process for all of us.
Because we often yawn before or after sleep, we think it’s a sign of fatigue. Besides this symptom, we can also yawn to express boredom.
During the yawning that occurs when dealing with a tedious task, our brain transitions from high alertness to lower alertness.
The situation is the same after an intense sports activity. Apart from these, we can find ourselves yawning in physical state changes such as transition from high pressure area to low pressure area.
There is no definite cause of yawning yet, but many theories about yawning have been developed over time and researchers have tried to reach some conclusions based on them.
One of the earliest theories about yawning was that of Hippocrates, who suggested that yawning was a way to remove bad air from the lungs. In the 17th and 18th centuries, scientists noticed that yawning caused an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen in the blood. As of today, the most popular theory for why we yawn is that we yawn “to be warned”.
The latest findings suggest that yawning may be linked to brain temperature.
When the brain heats up more than its constant temperature, we can yawn to cool the brain. During stretching, our facial muscles relax and this causes heat to be lost through the facial veins. The cold air that enters helps the brain muscles to relax, and accordingly, our brain cools down.
So how is yawning transmitted?
Our brain is an organ that is programmed to copy the people around us. At the same time, this action triggers mirror neurons in our brain. These neurons are activated when performing goal-directed behavior to imitate, and our brain cannot resist the yawn reflex.
This action can also occur by seeing someone yawn or by the thought of someone else yawning.
42-55% of adult people want to yawn during or right after watching a video that shows someone yawning repeatedly. This condition is called “contagious yawning”.
Thanks to yawning, which activates the motor mimicry, empathy, and social behavior parts of the brain, neurons in the brain cause you to feel what that person is going through, and command you to perform that action, even if you don’t really need it.
If the yawner is a friend, a family member, or someone with whom we have a close bond, we are more likely to take this action. Our yawning behavior when we see a stranger yawn is due to the empathic connection established in our brains.
Yawning isn’t just for humans.
While almost all animals can yawn, only a few species exhibit contagious yawns. Dogs and wolves are animals that are exposed to contagious yawning.
What if we yawn too much?
Yawning is mostly harmless. Excessive yawning, on the other hand, can be caused by several different conditions that require medical attention.
This response may also be a sign of a sleep disorder. While not very common, too much yawning can also invite heart attacks and aortic-related heart conditions.
If you have yawned to the fullest, you can wash your face and come to yourself.
- Sources: Medical News Today, Rise Science, Real Simple, The New York Times, Library
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