Have you ever wondered why we yawn? It turns out that almost all animals with a backbone, like penguins, snakes, and guinea pigs, yawn too! Penguins yawn as part of their mating rituals, snakes do it to adjust their jaws after eating, and guinea pigs yawn when they’re angry. But what about humans? Why do we yawn, and why does it seem so contagious?
Believe it or not, you probably yawned for the first time when you were still a fetus! Babies start yawning in the womb during the second trimester, but scientists aren’t exactly sure why. It might be related to brain development.
For a long time, people thought yawning helped bring more oxygen into our lungs to make us feel less tired. However, new research suggests that yawning might actually help cool down our brains. Just like a computer, our brains work best at a certain temperature and need to avoid getting too hot.
When you yawn, your heart rate goes up, blood flows more, and the muscles in your face get a workout. All these actions help cool your brain. Taking a deep breath of cool air can also change the temperature of the blood in your head.
But why does your brain get hot in the first place? Being tired or not getting enough sleep can raise your brain’s temperature, which is why you might yawn more when you’re exhausted. In one study, people who had warm packs on their heads yawned 41% of the time when they saw others yawning, compared to just 9% when they had cold packs. So, if your head is already cool, you might yawn less.
Have you noticed how yawning seems to spread from person to person? Humans, primates, and even dogs find yawning contagious, and this might be linked to empathy, which is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Kids start to catch yawns around the age of 4 to 5, which is when they begin to develop empathy and recognize emotions.
Interestingly, children with empathy-related conditions, like autism, tend to yawn less when they see others yawning. You’re also more likely to mimic the yawn of someone you’re close to, like a family member or friend. Even dogs are more likely to copy their owner’s yawn than a stranger’s.
Mirror neurons in our brains are important for learning and understanding others. These neurons activate when we do something, see someone else do it, or even hear about it. When we see someone yawn, our mirror neurons fire up, and we often end up yawning too!
So, while yawning might happen when we’re feeling “hot-headed,” contagious yawning helps us connect with those around us. If you’re curious, try a yawning challenge and see how long you can last without yawning. And don’t forget to share your experience!
Keep a journal for a week to record every time you yawn. Note the time, what you were doing, and how you felt. At the end of the week, analyze your data to see if there are any patterns. Share your findings with the class and discuss what might cause these patterns.
Conduct an experiment with your classmates to test the contagious nature of yawning. Pair up and take turns trying to make each other yawn by yawning yourself. Record how many times your partner yawns in response. Discuss how this might relate to empathy and mirror neurons.
Create a simple demonstration to show how yawning might cool the brain. Use a small fan to represent airflow and a thermometer to measure temperature changes. Explain how increased airflow during yawning could help regulate brain temperature.
Choose an animal that yawns, such as a penguin or snake, and research why they yawn. Create a presentation or poster to share your findings with the class. Include interesting facts about the animal’s yawning behavior and how it compares to human yawning.
In groups, create a short skit that demonstrates how mirror neurons work in contagious yawning. Act out a scenario where one person yawns and others follow. Discuss how mirror neurons might help us understand and connect with others beyond just yawning.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
[Music] Almost all animals with a spine yawn. Penguins do it as a mating ritual, snakes do it to realign their jaws after a meal, and guinea pigs do it to display anger. So why exactly do humans yawn, and is yawning actually contagious?
If you haven’t already checked out our yawning challenge video, click here or use the link in the description to see how long you can last before yawning. If you’re anything like us, you may have even yawned at the title of this video.
The truth is, the first time you yawned was likely as a fetus. Babies begin to yawn during the second trimester, and the reason why is still unknown. It may have to do with proper brain development.
Yawns were commonly thought to draw more oxygen into the lungs, making you feel less tired, but new research suggests that this may not be the case. Scientists now believe that yawning has developed as a way of physiologically cooling your brain. Much like a computer, your brain works best at a certain temperature and tries to avoid overheating.
Yawning increases your heart rate, blood flow, and the use of muscles in your face, which are all essential to cooling the brain. Additionally, deeply inhaling cold air can alter the temperature of the blood in our head.
But why is your brain hot in the first place? Both exhaustion and sleep deprivation are known to increase overall brain temperature, which explains why yawning occurs more in these states. Researchers have found that participants who place warm packs on their heads yawn 41% of the time while watching others yawn, compared to just 9% of the time with a cold pack on their heads. So if your head is already cold, you’ll yawn less.
Now, what about contagious or social yawning? Humans, primates, and even dogs find yawning contagious, and it’s most likely linked to empathy. Contagious yawning begins in children around the age of 4 to 5, which is when empathetic behavior and the ability to identify emotions begin to develop. In fact, children with empathy-related disorders, such as autism, yawn less in response to videos of people yawning compared to other children.
Research also suggests that you’re more likely to copy the yawn of someone socially or genetically close to you. Even dogs are more likely to copy the yawn of their owner rather than that of a stranger.
Finally, mirror neurons play a role in our brains. Mirror neurons fire when we perform a specific action, view someone else doing the action, or even just hear someone talk about the action. They are important brain cells used for learning, self-awareness, and relating to others. When we see someone else yawn, the mirror neurons in our brain become activated in a similar way, and as a result, we copy the yawn.
So although yawning may occur in people who are literally hot-headed, contagious yawning allows us to connect with those around us. If you haven’t already checked out our yawning challenge, go try it out and let us know in the comments how long you were able to last. And subscribe for more weekly science videos!
—
Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Yawn – A reflex action that involves opening the mouth wide and taking a deep breath, often due to tiredness or boredom. – During the science class, we learned that yawning helps increase oxygen intake when we are tired.
Brain – The organ in the body that controls thoughts, memory, emotions, and many other functions. – The brain is a complex organ that processes information from our senses and helps us understand the world around us.
Oxygen – A gas that is essential for most living organisms to survive, as it is used in the process of respiration. – Plants release oxygen into the air during photosynthesis, which is crucial for animals and humans to breathe.
Temperature – A measure of how hot or cold something is, often measured in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. – Scientists monitor the temperature of the ocean to study climate change and its effects on marine life.
Empathy – The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person or living being. – In biology, empathy can be observed in some animals that comfort each other in times of stress.
Neurons – Specialized cells in the nervous system that transmit information through electrical and chemical signals. – Neurons in the brain communicate with each other to help us think, learn, and remember.
Animals – Living organisms that can move independently and consume organic material for energy. – Animals play a vital role in ecosystems by maintaining balance through food chains and pollination.
Tired – Feeling a need for rest or sleep, often due to physical or mental exertion. – After a long day of studying biology, I felt tired and needed to rest to recharge my energy.
Muscles – Tissues in the body that have the ability to contract and produce movement or maintain the position of parts of the body. – Exercise helps strengthen muscles, which are important for supporting the skeleton and enabling movement.
Blood – A fluid in the body that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to cells and transports waste products away from them. – Blood circulates through the body, carrying oxygen from the lungs to the cells and carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled.
