
The Yawn Explained: It Cools Your Brain - eisokant
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/15/yawn-brain-head.html
======
ars
I'm not buying this. And why didn't they study humans?

The explanation I heard many many years ago still seems right: yawning gets
you more oxygen.

And if you need to test that, next time you feel the urge (meeting?), just
breath deeply and it will go away.

~~~
puffythefish
"And why didn't they study humans?"

"He and colleagues Michael Miller and Anne Clark analyzed yawning in parakeets
as representative vertebrates because the birds have relatively large brains,
live wild in Australia, which is subject to frequent temperature swings, and,
most importantly, do not engage in contagious yawning, as humans and some
other animals do."

------
trickjarrett
Interesting hypothesis, not sure I buy it. Doesn't explain to me still why
it's 'contagious.'

~~~
jerf
"Because, statistically speaking, if conditions have induced a yawn in one
person (according to these reasons), anybody else in the immediate area is
likely to have the same conditions too."

Quoted because I'm just proposing it, not claiming it is true.

~~~
tyn
Then why the yawning when reading the article?

~~~
ivank
My speculation: because there are no drawbacks to yawning too much, we've
evolved to yawn with even the slightest triggers.

~~~
jamesbritt

           My speculation: because there are no drawbacks to yawning 
           too much, we've evolved to yawn with even the slightest triggers.
    
    

Unless, of course, you're talking to your wife/husband/whatever and a case of
the yawns kicks in.

~~~
sokoloff
"Sorry honey, I was thinking very intently about the deep thought you just
shared, and my brain just needed some additional cooling."

Get out of jail free...

~~~
jamesbritt
The funny thing is I often yawn when I'm really paying attention. It still
doesn't go over well. :(

------
scott_s
Interesting theory, but I want them to comment on exercise. I don't yawn much
when I work out - sometimes, but rarely. This could be explained by the fact
that usually when I get the hottest, I'm in a hot environment. But that's not
awlays the case.

------
alex_c
So, does this mean that we can use yawning as a tool to focus (as long as the
ambient temperature isn't too high?)

------
tlrobinson
Ok, now please explain _hiccups_.

~~~
thomasmallen
Diaphragm spasms.

------
KevBurnsJr
So why then aren't fevers associated with yawning?

------
vaksel
how come you yawn just when you wake up?

~~~
shimon
From page 2: "Prior studies reveal yawning leads to a heightened state of
arousal, so a morning yawn may function somewhat like a cup of coffee in
providing a jolt of energy."

