Why is yawning contagious?
I have always wondered but no one seem to really know. Is there anything behind it? Why do we yawn when we see or even hear someone else yawn? Why are infants and young children untouched by it?
Answers:
I hear it's the mirrored nervous system which is a series of behaviors that are culturally and to a lesser point genetically cultivated in apes, especially humans and orangutans used as a means of social reciprocation and communication.
I hear it's similar to why we find it pleasant when somebody brushes our hair or give us massages. A bit physiological, a lot social.
I really wouldn't know but I'm gonna guess that the image of seeing someone yawn reminds our body that we need to sleep sometime, which makes us perceive a little tireder and causes us to yawn.
Infants and children might not find it contagious because they are either hyperactive or they sleep abundantly of the time.
Im just guessing though...
An excellent question -- and one researchers are still trying to answer! A Finnish study in 2005 found that it was not the result of the mirror neuron process (the one that enable us to replicate other people's actions). It somehow seems to bypass that process as well as the parts of our brains that recognize facial expressions. The initial urge to yawn seem to be unconscious, but why many of us follow up on it (while others don't) is still an open interview. Source(s): http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050309_yawnfrm.htm
the Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters" did an unscientific (as in it didn't own highly stringent rules and would not make it into a heavy medical journal) study, and they found that it is not actually contagious. It's just an old wives legend.
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Answers:
I hear it's the mirrored nervous system which is a series of behaviors that are culturally and to a lesser point genetically cultivated in apes, especially humans and orangutans used as a means of social reciprocation and communication.
I hear it's similar to why we find it pleasant when somebody brushes our hair or give us massages. A bit physiological, a lot social.
I really wouldn't know but I'm gonna guess that the image of seeing someone yawn reminds our body that we need to sleep sometime, which makes us perceive a little tireder and causes us to yawn.
Infants and children might not find it contagious because they are either hyperactive or they sleep abundantly of the time.
Im just guessing though...
An excellent question -- and one researchers are still trying to answer! A Finnish study in 2005 found that it was not the result of the mirror neuron process (the one that enable us to replicate other people's actions). It somehow seems to bypass that process as well as the parts of our brains that recognize facial expressions. The initial urge to yawn seem to be unconscious, but why many of us follow up on it (while others don't) is still an open interview. Source(s): http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050309_yawnfrm.htm
the Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters" did an unscientific (as in it didn't own highly stringent rules and would not make it into a heavy medical journal) study, and they found that it is not actually contagious. It's just an old wives legend.
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