Ask most people why we yawn, and you'll probably get an answer along the lines of "something to do with getting more oxygen into the blood". The truth is we don't really know why we yawn, however there is a prevailing theory that it is linked to thermoregulation and is intended to cool the brain and the frequency of yawns can differ depending on the season. This theory is thanks to a team of researchers led by Psychologist Andrew Gallup of SUNY College at Oneonta, USA.
Brain temperatures can be affected by our sleep cycles, stress levels and cortisol arousal with yawning seeming to function to keep the brain cool. To me, that makes sense knowing that we need to sleep (and dream) to maintain good health and if we're tired due to lack of sleep, the brain can start to overheat. Results from the study showed that we yawn more in the summer than in winter, which confirms the teams theory that we yawn more when ambient air temperatures are around 20 C. We still need to do more research into the differences between spontaneous and contagious yawning, but this study helps highlight the mechanisms behind both types of yawns.
What did you make of this quick fact? Have you heard about this research before? Let me know your thoughts and feeling down in the comments, and as always make sure to follow me for the latest Cryptocurrency, Technology, Internet and Pop Culture updates. If you're a fan of strange and interesting YouTube videos, you might want to follow me on Twitter. Until next time, take it easy!
Sources:
Do we yawn to cool the brain? Yawning frequencies of people vary with temperature of the season from ScienceDaily (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140506120031.htm)
Image from Pixabay by tiniiiii (https://pixabay.com/en/users/tiniiiii-1665199/)
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Interesting! I've noticed my dog yawn when she is nervous or excited. For example when we are going for a walk but she has to wait because I'm still looking for my sunglasses. Looks like she is doing it to calm herself down.
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