Why do we yawn? is it true that people tend to yawn due to lack of oxygen in the

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   szufisticadaposted 13 years ago

   Why do we yawn? is it true that people tend to yawn due to lack of oxygen in the brain?

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   dallas93444posted 13 years ago

   Dr. Provine suggests that perhaps yawning is like stretching. Yawning and stretching increase blood pressure and heart rate and also flex muscles and joints. Evidence that yawning and stretching may be related comes from the observation that if you try to stifle or prevent a yawn by clenching your jaws shut, the yawn is somewhat "unsatisfying." For some reason, the stretching of jaw and face muscles is necessary for a good yawn.
   
   In 2007, researchers proposed that yawning is used to cool the brain. They found that people yawned more often they pressed a warm or room temperature towel against their heads than when they pressed a cold towel against their heads. People who breathed through their noses (thought to reduce brain temperature) did not yawn at all.
   
   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.

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   Bronson_Hubposted 13 years ago

   I read somewhere that yawning indicates sexual arousal.  I just googled it to find something and if you type "yawning sexual arousal" there's a ton of articles specific to it.  ::yawn::  Wait, no, not like that!  I'm just tired

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   Iontachposted 13 years ago

   Weird, I yawned when I read this...Yawning is very strange, I find it funny when people systematically yawn after you yawn, like a chain reaction. I wonder how we can explain that.

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   ChristineVianelloposted 13 years ago

   Ha, while reading about your question about yawning, I had to yawn. I heard somewhere, I belive on Mythbusters that it is contagious...Hmmmm

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   naufillzamanposted 13 years ago

   i dont know i jst yawn when i m bored or want to sleep

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   Kbraggposted 13 years ago

   There are views that say it's a physical reaction to not getting enough oxygen, views that say it's due to boredom and can be contagious (As in if one person yawns others start to yawn), and then there are thoughts on it that say it's a social thing and that when others yawn following the initial yawner it's a type of reaction that is done to associate yourself in some way with that person.

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