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Asked by 10216mw to Mark, Matthew, Mike, Paul, Sabina on 11 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Matthew Malek answered on 11 Mar 2014:
No one really knows, but I will say that yawning is not just something that humans do! Many species yawn; it’s a way to increase alertness and wake yourself up.
There are several hypothesis as to why yawning is “contagious”. My favourite has to do with ancient communal methods of communication within a group. This goes beyond groups of humans (but does include us!) and covers cats, birds, and beyond!
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Mark Jackson answered on 11 Mar 2014:
Because if someone gets tired or bored, the people around him find him tiring and boring, and so they feel the same.
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Paul Coxon answered on 11 Mar 2014:
It used to be thought that yawning was brought on by tiredness: we yawn and take in a big gulp of oxygen from the air which would help perk us up.
But that doesn’t explain why if you see someone yawn, you instinctively join in even if you’re not tired. Now people believe yawning serves a useful social purpose which is related to our ability to understand and relate to the emotions of those around us, known as ’empathy’ which is an important characteristic in highly evolved creatures like apes and humans.
MRI imaging has shown the parts of the brain which are active during a good old yawn as the same as those associated with empathy. We know there’s a link between yawning and empathic abilities, but researchers are still trying to understand why.
A lot of things involving the brain are still a mystery to us, which is why I prefer to study atoms and molecules – so much simpler 😉
Hope this answers your question 10216mw, if you need more explanation, just drop a comment below.
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