After all of the remarkable wonders we’ve discovered throughout time, isn’t it a bit surprising that science still doesn’t have a definitive reason for why we yawn? How can this be? We all yawn, in fact they say that the average adult yawns 9 (but up to 20) times a day, and yet no one can really put their finger on the answer of why we do it.
And it’s not just us—all vertebrate animals, fish, reptiles and even birds yawn, yet none of them have figured out a conclusive reason for it either.
Dogs (more so than cats) will yawn if they see their humans yawning, or when they are feeling uncertain. Cats never feel uncertain. Snakes yawn after eating, in order to re-align their jaws. Creepy. Penguins yawn to attract a mate (that doesn’t work for humans, just to be clear). Baboons are said to yawn as a way of intimidating their enemies. Siamese Fighting Fish will only yawn if they see another Siamese Fighting Fish, or even their own reflection, and then they will fly into a rage and attack. Fish can yawn? In anger?
I’m thinking that we are the only species that yawns in order to pop the eustachian tubes in our ears when we’re flying or riding in an elevator or driving along a winding mountain highway, but you never know.
In humans, a yawn typically last between 4 and 7 seconds. And is often presented in sets of 2 or 3, with increasing enthusiasm. Remember that if you’re trying to hide one.
Today, covering one’s mouth whilst yawning is considered to be good manners (and one that I admittedly forget about regularly), however, yawning behind one’s hand was historically done in order to prevent the soul from getting swished out the body and/or to stop evil spirits from slipping in, when one’s mouth was agape. Those superstitions are less widely held these days.
We start yawning very early on in our development. A fetus will begin to yawn 12 weeks after conception, and even though it is getting its oxygen through its umbilical cord, it will on average yawn 25 times a day.
Weren’t we all told that yawning was a reaction that happened when our bodies weren’t receiving enough oxygen? Well, that theory was thoroughly tested and it was found that being given more or less oxygen didn’t impact the number of times the test subjects yawned. So that’s bunk.
Within the study of yawning, apparently referred to as Chasmology, the experts remain divided on exactly what prompts the body to yawn. Some think that it is a reaction that accompanies stress or the anticipation of action. Often athletes will yawn before a game or musicians before a concert. Frequent yawning has been detected with certain medical conditions that elevate the body’s stress triggers. Specifically, multiple sclerosis, ALS, strokes, or epilepsy.
Then there is the theory that a yawn serves to cool down the brain. The thought is that when the brain becomes warm, the sucking in of air through the mouth and/or nose allows an influx of cooler air to be drawn into the body, which cools down the brain somehow. I can’t imagine that, but I have no better explanation of my own to offer. In support of this theory, the body’s temperature is known to raise just before going to sleep and lowered just after sleeping, and both are times of active yawning. Plus, during an experiment to test this body-heat theory, the application of cold packs to the participants foreheads while they were being subjected to videos of people yawning, resulted in vastly fewer yawns. There are films made specifically of people yawning? Is there an audition process for that?
Another theory of why we yawn is that yawning serves to focus our attention either when we are feeling sleepy or when we are bored. A yawn engages muscles in the face, neck, and respiratory system, and results in a mental re-set which our subconscious seems to think we need. Alongside this is the theory that when a yawn is contagious throughout a group of people, it is to focus them for whatever feat they are about to undertake. One contagious yawn can be passed around a group (or pack, if we’re including the animal kingdom here) who need to focus on facing a joint situation.
That yawning is contagious is another of the questions about ourselves that has remained unanswered. Yawns are contagious visually, can be shared over the phone, or even by talking about them. In fact, you are likely to have yawned already just because you’ve read this far. There is just no solid answer as to why they are contagious. Sorry.
A study conducted in 2007 found that contagious yawning was predictably more frequent depending on who we are around. Apparently, we reflexively yawn more around other yawning family members. We tend to catch a yawn when we are around our friends at a slightly less consistent rate, and even slightly less when we are around acquaintances. We are the least affected by the yawns of strangers.
At the end of the day, we have solid scientific explanations for why we sneeze, why our eyes water up, why we cough, and why we do the rest of our usual bodily functions, but the reason for yawning continues to elude even the best of the trained professionals.
I don’t mind. It’s kind of nice that there still is something mysterious about us. That with a nonchalance worthy of a bored teenager, we can pull out a yawn, toss off a hair-flip, and just. be. mysterious!
