I have always wondered why we yawn and why yawns are so contagious. I used to believe that we yawned because of boredom or how tired we are, however, after reading a study on the independent; I learned that yawning has nothing to do with being tired or being bored. In fact there is a completely different reason behind why we yawn and why yawning is so contagious. I have already yawned twice since writing this blog post on the subject. On the independant it discusses that yawning is a way our brains cool down. When we yawn we are able to think more clearly because the brain has cooled itself down and provided more room and clearer headspace. When we yawn both our heart rates and blood flow increases, which brings over more air to our heads and cools our blood. Other studies have shown that yawning serves as a respiratory function meaning it will awaken our bodies with more oxygen when fatigues, however studies have proven against this specifically demonstrating that yawning does not in fact increase oxygen levels in our bodies. This is proven in a situation such as working out, activities that call for more oxygen, yet we do not yawn while performing exercise. Therefore yawning does not in fact keep us more awake, it does however force our brains to work at the appropriate temperature. I will now cover why yawning is so contagious, you may have yawned once while reading this because that simple act of reading about the subject can cause the body to want to yawn. I have always been very curious on why yawning is so contagious therefore read a couple of studies on the matter and all showed very similar responses to this question. It has been prove that yawning becomes contagious at age four. As states on discovery.com, “Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of empathy and a form of social bonding. Kids don’t develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found.” The same study showed interestingly enough that kids who have autism are half as likely to be affected by others yawning. Due to autistic children being prone to “catching” yawns, yawning overall may aid in diagnosing developmental disorders in the medical world. It has been proven many times before that contagious yawning is in fact associated with the parts of the brain that deal with empathy. As I have already stated above yawning can be contagious just by hearing about it or reading it. You don’t have to see an actual person yawning for it to be infections. I have yawned a couple of times just by writing this blog post; the word yawn itself makes me want to do the action. Yawning has been linked to empathy the ability to understand and connect with others emotional states. Whether or not you are receptive to contagious yawning may be related to how much empathy you feel for others.

The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

“Why Is Yawning Contagious? : DNews.” DNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.