2006-09-25 02:47:41 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, this will cause another person to "sympathetically" yawn.[3] The reasons for this are unclear; however, recent research suggests that yawning might be a herd instinct.[4] Other theories suggest that the yawn serves to synchronize mood behavior among gregarious animals, similar to the howling of the wolf pack during a full moon. It signals tiredness to other members of the group in order to synchronize sleeping patterns and periods of activity. It can serve as a warning in displaying large, canine teeth. This phenomenon has been observed among various primates. The threat gesture is a way of maintaining order in the primates' social structure. The contagion of yawning is interspecific (i.e., try yawning in front of your dog). Oddly, sometimes sympathetic yawning may be caused by simply looking at a picture of a person or animal yawning, or even seeing the word "yawn".
2006-09-25 02:53:54 · answer #1 · answered by Smokey 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It was long believed you yawned when there was too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen in your blood. A part of your brain called the brain stem detected this and triggered the yawn reflex. Your mouth stretched wide and you inhaled deeply, shooting a jolt of oxygen into the lungs and thence to the bloodstream.
Subsequently, you exhaled a lot of CO2. Often you'd stretch while yawning, which seemed to temporarily improve circulation. You yawned and stretched a lot more when you got tired because your breathing slowed down.
Or so people thought. In recent years, though, a few radicals have said the preceding is all malarkey. Who knows, they say, maybe we yawn because it's too warm in the room.
2006-09-25 09:55:22 · answer #2 · answered by trushka 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
its got to do with whether you're tired. if you're at the peak of energy do you think you'd yawn with the rest of the country? for me, other people yawning just reminds me that i'm tired.
2006-09-25 10:13:37 · answer #3 · answered by idiotte 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
maybe bcoz when you see a person yawn, u get to think how tired yo are and how it would feel so good if you could get to rest and sleep at that moment.
2006-09-25 10:18:06 · answer #4 · answered by elaine bonita 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
subliminal message...it is a knee-jerk reaction...same with coughing...or scratching your head....good question.
2006-09-25 09:55:39 · answer #5 · answered by ozzy chik... 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
its a lack of oxygen in that area i think.
2006-09-26 10:41:34 · answer #6 · answered by BLACKY 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
idk i ask myself the same question..they jus are i guess..its one of those things that will never have an answer to i think
2006-09-25 09:49:55 · answer #7 · answered by coming4yu17 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i can't know
2006-09-25 09:49:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋