Animal Yawning can be Contagious, Beware!!!

Why yawns are contagious—in all kinds of animals

Evolutionary biologist Andrew Gallup explains why we yawn after others

The mere sight of another person yawning causes many of us to open our mouths wide in mimicry. And we’re not alone—other social animals, such aschimpanzees and lions, can also catch so-called contagious yawns. It’s likely that all vertebrates yawn spontaneously to regulate inner body processes.

Yawning probably arose with the evolution of jawed fishes 400 million or so years ago, says Andrew Gallup, an evolutionary biologist at State University of New York Polytechnic Institute who has spent years trying to figure out why we yawn. In a paper published this month in Animal Behavior, he reports some evidence for how contagious yawns might have evolved to keep us safe. Science chatted with Gallup about why yawning is ubiquitous—and useful. This interview has been edited for clarity and length

Q: First, let’s address a long-standing myth: Does yawning increase blood oxygen levels?

A: No. Despite continued belief, research has explicitly tested that hypothesis and the results have concluded that breathing and yawning are controlled by different mechanisms. For example, there are really interesting cases of yawning in marine mammals, where the yawning occurs while the animal is submerged underwater and therefore not breathing.

Q: So what does yawning actually do to the body?

A: Yawning is a rather complex reflex. It’s triggered under a variety of contexts and neurophysiological changes. It primarily occurs during periods of state change, commonly following transitions of sleeping and waking. There’s research that also suggests that yawns are initiated alongside increases in cortical arousal, so yawns themselves may function to promote alertness. And there’s a growing body of research that suggests that yawning is triggered by rises in brain temperature. I’ve conducted a number of studies testing this in humans, nonhuman mammals, and even birds.

Q: What have those studies shown?

A: These studies show that we can reliably manipulate yawn frequency by changing ambient temperature and the brain and body temperature of the individual. In rats, we’ve conducted studies showing that rises in brain temperature reliably trigger yawning, [and that yawning is] followed by decreases in brain temperature.

                                                         To Be Continued........

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