In the past we have theorized that we yawn to bring more oxygen to the brain, but this theory is very unlikely since there has been no scientific data between yawning and oxygen levels. A new study by psychologists suggests that when we yawn we are actually cooling the brain. When we get tired or are stressed our brain heats up and therefore we need to maintain homeostasis to cool our brain. According to the article and study, yawning happens more in heated environments and over the summer. The study also shows that yawning is contagious by a psychological interaction so the overall population's brain efficiency will increase.NOS Themes: Role of Credibility - The study was lead by a tema of psychologists from the University of Vienna, the Nova Southeastern University, and SUNY College.
Science based on evidence- The teams of psychologists did experiments to test if yawning was contagious by showing pictures of people yawning. They also recorded temperature at the tests.
Role of motivation - The scientists wanted to know what really happens when someone yawns and the science behind it.
Link http://medienportal.univie.ac.at/presse/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/detailansicht/artikel/yawning-to-cool-the-brain/
I found this article to be intriguing. It's funny how similar our brains are to computers; they both even have built in "fans" to cool themselves off. It was also interesting to see a valid reason for why yawning is contagious. The fact that yawning is contagious is helpful overall is really interesting to think about. Was there a point where humans developed this characteristic of contagious yawning or was it always like that?
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising when something you believe for so long is suddenly contradicted with newer research and evidence. I read an article about a study on the effect the temperature has on how much people yawn. Scientists did the experiment in the summer and winter in Vienna, Austria and Arizona. The results were that people in Vienna yawned more in the summer, but people in Arizona yawned more in winter. From doing this experiment, the scientists figured out that season has no effect on how much a person yawns, but the thermal zone they are in does.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.healthcentral.com/dailydose/cf/2014/05/7/does_yawning_help_cool_the_brain
When I read that yawns were proven to be contagious, I wanted to find out more. I learned some cool facts about yawning from Discovery News. One interesting thing is that yawns start to become contagious at age four. Also, a study suggested that yawning after seeing someone else yawn is a sign of empathy and is supposedly a form of social bonding. In addition, studies show that autistic kids are less likely to catch a yawn than others, leading scientists to believe that autistic kids are missing the unconscious emotional link between themselves and others. Lastly, only humans, chimpanzees, and dogs have shown their capability of catching yawns from one another.
ReplyDeleteThose were just a few of the many interesting things I found about yawning from this website: http://news.discovery.com/human/health/yawning-social-behavior.htm
Another NOS I think could work for this article is the role of skepticism. In a website I found it was said that there are about 20 physiological reasons for yawning that have been proposed by scholars. Those 20 physiological reasons have not been agreed on.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when I read this article because I always associated yawning with being tired. I looked at another article that also stated that yawning was meant to cool the brain. But it also mentioned some of the factors that caused the brain to rise in temperature and need to be cooled down. One of the factors was the amount of sleep you get, which could explain why many people associated yawning with being tired in the first place.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140506120031.htm