The Big Yawn

Q: Why are yawns contagious?

A: It never fails. No matter who it is, where I am, or if I'm even tired a huge yawn takes over my face every time I see someone else do it first. Why?

I searched everywhere for the answer to this burning question and unfortunately there is not a definite answer because not everyone agrees on the reason why we yawn to begin with.

Scientists used to believe that people yawned when there was too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen in their blood. When a yawn stretched over your face you exhaled CO2 and inhaled oxygen into your lungs which then heads to your bloodstream. They also believe you yawn more when you are tired because the breathing is slowed down.

Recently though, some scientists have said the theory is false and believe that being warm could cause yawning. In 2007, researchers from the University of Albany proposed that yawning may be a means to keep the brain cool.

No matter why we yawn, someone will still follow us. According to WorldScience.net, the Finnish government funded a brain scanning study to find the answer. The study found that yawn contagion is unconscious meaning we often do not even realize we are doing it and have no control stopping it. "Wherever it might affect the brain, it bypasses the known brain circuitry for consciously analyzing and mimicking other people's actions," according to the study.

The circuitry that is bypassed is called the mirror-neuron system. This contains a special type of neurons that are active when the person does something and when he or she senses someone else doing the same thing, like yawning. The study says the mirror neurons do not play a role in yawn contagiousness because the area typically becomes active with conscious actions and scientists believe yawning is an unconscious action.

The study also found a deactivation in a part of the brain called the left periamygdalar region. This part of the brain has been linked to the unconscious analysis of emotional expressions in faces, so why would it be deactivated during yawning? Researchers say the reason why it deactivated is unclear.

So it seems to me after all this fancy and probably pretty expensive research at Helsinki University the answer has still not been found. The one clear answer believed to have been found through the study is that "contagious yawning does not rely on brain mechanisms of action understanding."

I'm still confused and started looking into the social aspect of yawning. Adelie penguins yawn as a part of their courtship- the male penguins open their beaks wide and point their faces toward the sky while trying to get the attention of their future partner. Could humans yawn as a way of communication too?

Yawning may be a survival instinct inherited from our evolutionary past. "During human evolutionary history when we were subject to predation and attacks by other groups, if everybody yawns in response to seeing someone yawn, the whole group becomes much more vigilant, and much better at being able to detect danger," said Gordon Gallup.

Believe what you believe. There are several reasons and explanations about the contagiousness of yawning, but I think it's probably just your own personal opinion about why it happens.