Why do we actually yawn?

Question

What is the point in yawning?

Answer 1

most people don't actually know how to breathe?

lol i know it sounds stupid but it's true. if you breathed properly and at all the right times then there would be no need to yawn.

there is a theory that yawning developed early in our evolution while we still needed to be social animals to survive as a technique to let others know when our concentration levels were dropping. this might (or might not) explain why yawning is an infectuous thing... i.e. people being tired at the same time & yawning to prove/illustrate/advertise it.

Another theory is still based on the same premise (that it's a self preservation technique) but the reason this theory puts forward is because earth did not always have massive levels of oxygen evenly spread across the world, there did used to be places and times in the day where there were slightly lower oxygen levels in the air for various reasons and we yawned to get more air into us.

Science says that air intake is still the primary reason for yawning.

Most people who breathe do it shallowly, not using all of their lung capacity but that lung capacity wasn't there for fun; it it's there to perform a function ... the tired body doesn't use oxygen as well as the fresh just-woken-up body, our brains being more tired also need more oxygen to keep them running. yawning is a sign that we haven't been getting more air.

Another reason for yawning is if someone is increasing size quickly. if you put on weight faster than normal for your body, you'll find yourself yawning more because first off the organs will be positioned differently, if you've just eaten and you're full up you might find that you're yawning because paradoxically there's less room for your lungs to manoeuver, because your body has more mass which affects the lungs and your heart is less used to pumping enough air for this new type of body. so while it gets its strength up and your body adjusts, you have to be content with yawning more.

how does yawning signify that we are bored or disinterested? because it is usually an involuntary urge to yawn if you're bored.

yawning is a very complex activity and we're discovering more and more about it as research continues but we're far from understanding this common and interesting phenomenon completely.

e.g. how comes yawning can be such a physical activity, and yet it's quite an involuntary activity

or how much was yawning used as part of mating because the streatching element of yawning is still considered to be quite sexy... when did that start, how did it evolve...

what part of hte brain do we involve in the streatching procedure and what other things do those parts of the brain control?

Answer 2

Amazingly yawning can begin at 11 weeks after conception, before the baby is even born.

People are more likely to yawn when they are bored, than when they are entertained. Yawning increases blood pressure, heart rate, and flex muscles. Yawning is also a vestigal response, an evolutionary leftover, early animals would yawn to signal something, and the other animals in the group would respond with a confirmation yawn. Yawning can occur as a response to low oxygen in the blood. Yawning also occurs when you are tired. Yawning causes a sharp intake of oxygen that will reawaken your mind. Yet, there is still much mystery when it comes to yawning due to how little research has been done on the subject.

Answer 3

THE TRUTH IS that we don’t completely understand why people, or animals for that matter, yawn. It’s widely assumed that yawning occurs because we are tired or bored or because we see someone else doing it, but there isn’t any hard evidence to support these beliefs.

The most plausible explanation, and the one that is taught in medical school, is that we yawn because oxygen levels in our lungs are low. Studies have shown that during normal, at-rest breathing, we don’t use anywhere near our lung capacity; for the most part, we just use the air sacs at the bottom of the lungs. If the air sacs, called alveoli, don’t get fresh air, they partially collapse and the lungs stiffen a bit. As a result, it’s believed, our brain prompts the body to either sigh or take a yawn to get more air into the lungs.

But certain aspects of yawning remain even more mysterious. Fetuses, for instances, have been observed yawning in the womb, yet it’s known that they don’t take oxygen in through their lungs. And yawning seems to be a symptom of multiple sclerosis and other medical conditions, for reasons unclear.



* I thought maybe it is like we are stretching?

Answer 4

Haha yep. Yawns are very contagious. fifty 5% of human beings that witness someone yawn will yawn interior 5 minutes. If a visually impaired man or woman hears a tape of someone yawning, he or she is in all probability to yawn besides.

Answer 5

People yawn when they are tired. It also away of your body telling you it needs more oxygen. It is also very contagious anyone reading this will start yawning very soon.

Answer 6

It is due to the lack of oxygen. We yawn to supply our brains with more oxygen.

Answer 7

you dont yawn because you are tired. people yawn because that is your bodys way of letting you know that it need mre oxygen.

Answer 8

when our brain needs oxygen we yawn

Answer 9

I yawn purposely, ha-ha.

Answer 10

I yawn every time I read another mindless conspiracy theory on 9/11