TESSA WINKELHAKE ’16 and ALEXIS LOSSE ’16
People yawn when they are tired, bored, need more oxygen, or need to cool down their brain. Many people ask the question of whether yawning is contagious, but did you know there is scientific evidence that yawning is indeed contagious? Before one can understand why yawning is contagious it is important to note the effect of yawning on the brain. It was initially thought that yawning happened when a body is in need of more oxygen; however, recent studies show that this is not the case. If yawning happened when there was a necessity for oxygen, then why wouldn’t a person yawn after they exercise, when more oxygen is essential? The facts are when a person yawns it is because their brain needs to cool down. Immediately before someone yawns, the brain temperature increases and immediately after a yawn the brain temperature goes down the same amount that it initially increased.

While yawning is important to maintain a stable temperature in the brain it is also a process that can be spread among people. Mr. Meza, head of the science department, stated, “Yawning is a social bonding mechanisms that we can tie directly to our brains. In the brain there are mirror neurons that cause us to yawn when someone else yawns. We have these mirror neurons because of the social element. When we see someone hurt we don’t run away we feel the need to help. The mirror neurons connect us socially to other human beings.”

Mrs. Murphy, another science teacher, reported, “yawning is an empathy response with the other person. You see them yawn and then from empathy you yawn too.”

Those who don’t believe that yawning is contagious may believe that it is a personal phenomenon that happens only when an individual needs the process. However, yawning is a way for humans to bond without using any words. Yawning is a way to cool down the brain, but it also occurs when the mirror neurons in the brain are triggered by seeing another person yawn.
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