• Question: Why is yawning contagiuos?

    Asked by charleyolivia to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 13 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by daleawh, tompkinshwh, aldredkwh, mcloughlinlwh.
    • Photo: Mark Burnley

      Mark Burnley answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Again, I don’t know why yawning is contagious, but I used to work as a stable hand and discovered that I could make a horse yawn by yawning myself! A few years ago a study suggested that humans yawn to cool the brain down by breathing through the nose. I thought that was a silly idea because I knew that horses yawn even though they ONLY breathe through the nose! So, nobody knows why we yawn, and nobody knows why it is contagious, but there are lots of ideas out there.

    • Photo: Jenni Tilley

      Jenni Tilley answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      I have absolutely no idea. I remember my biology teacher telling me it happens when we don’t have enough oxygen in our blood and it’s an instinct. Maybe it’s contagious for the same reason that when someone stands in the street looking up at the top of a building, everyone around will look up too – we can’t help copying the people around us!

    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      I’m not sure why it’s contagious but when I have tried feeding babies, they seem to open their mouth when I open mine, and when I watch a woman putting on mascara and pulling “mascara face” I sometimes find myself doing it too! And chimps also copy other chimps yawning. So perhaps it is to do with copying what other people around us are doing. Imagine if all facial movements were contagious!

    • Photo: Stuart Mourton

      Stuart Mourton answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I’m afraid I can’t shed any further light on this either! I remember doing a not very scientific experiment at school about it though! We had a substitute teacher in who wasn’t really interested in teaching the proper lesson so instead we tried to ‘pass’ a yawn round the whole class! We got through about 15 people before it stopped. It’s really strange though, even just typing this is making me want to yawn! (Maybe I’ve just not woken up properly yet?!)

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