What makes a yawn so contagious?

Question

I haven't seen that Mythbusters episode unfortunately - did they consider it a myth? I yawn every time someone else does and I know a lot of other people are the same so it can't be a myth?

Answer 1

It is possible that yawns are contagious because at one time in evolutionary history, the yawn served to coordinate the social behavior of a group of animals. When one member of the group yawned to signal an event, all the other members of the group also yawned. Yawns may still be contagious these days because of a leftover response (a "vestigial" response) that is not used anymore. None of this has been proven true and yawns are still one of the mysteries of the mind.

Answer 2

The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, this will cause another person to "sympathetically" yawn. The reasons for this are unclear; however, recent research suggests that yawning might be a herd instinct.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".

Answer 3

i have a more scientific answer for that question:

why we yawn? we yawn when we are tired, when we are sleepy. the reason is when our body lack of oxigen, our brain will send a signal to our muscle on our face/head/diagphram. muscles contracted to force us take in more oxigen and improve blood circulation.

when a group of people get togather and short of oxigen supply, somebody will yawn. when he yawns, he force himself to take in more oxigen. this makes the atmosphere surround even less oxigen (he 'snatches' oxigen from surround). therefore, other people around him will also feel not enough of oxigen and eventually will all yawn to 'snatch' some oxigen for their body. that makes yawning looks contagious.

Answer 4

watch mythbusters

Answer 5

Don't know but as soon as someone does I do the same thing lol

Answer 6

mythbusters busted this myth!!!!!

Answer 7

i can awnser your question what it is energy lost it mean that your body is not gettin enough energy