Why is yawning contagious?

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Yawning is a very ancient reflex, common not only to humans but also to animals. We all know how hard it is to resist yawning. If someone yawns in front of us, we will yawn, too! But what is this phenomenon associated with and why is yawning so contagious?

Everyone knows that we yawn when we want to sleep. And this is partly true; yawning can really be related to sleepiness or a lack of oxygen. If you are tired or sleep-deprived, yawning helps to open up the so-called "dead zone" in the lungs, that is, the volume of the airways in which gas exchange does not normally take place. Thus, during a yawn, more oxygen will enter the lungs and drowsiness will be slightly reduced.

However, drowsiness does not at all explain the contagiousness of yawning. Scientists have proven that yawning is controlled by mirror neurons, which are responsible for learning by imitation and copying the actions of others. It is thanks to mirror neurons that we learn everything from our parents as children. Mirror neurons are also responsible for empathy, so the better we know a person who yawns, the more we empathize with him, and the more likely we are to yawn back.

Through a series of experiments, scientists have found that children with autism are not susceptible to contagious yawning. This proves once again that yawning is based on empathy - because autism lacks empathy and has impaired brain connections responsible for empathy. Whereas it is almost impossible for normal people to resist collective yawning.

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Sincerely Eduard!