A doctor has revealed why we yawn when we see others yawning

certified clinical geneticist, nutritionist, expert of the UniProf Academy of Physicians

Why do we yawn and why is it so tempting to yawn when we see others yawning?

Yawning is a universal gesture. And it is found not only in humans, but also in many animals.

To date, in the scientific medical community there is no consensus on the usefulness and causes of “contagiousness” of yawning, but there are interesting hypotheses. Is yawning important? Yes, rather than no, thanks to ultrasound it can be observed that the baby yawns when it is still in the womb.

What is useful yawning

When yawning, a lot of oxygen enters the human body, which saturates the brain. In addition, the muscles of the jaw are relaxed. And yawning also helps to maintain concentration, timely “cooling” the brain.

Why yawning is “contagious”

It happens, someone yawned on the bus – and half the bus yawned back. This happens reflexively, and responsible for this process are brain cells that are closely associated with empathy – mirror neurons.

These neurons were discovered in 1996 by a team of neurobiologist at the University of Parma, Giacomo Rizzolatti. He studied monkeys and found that mirror neurons were activated not only when the animal performed the action itself, but also when it watched another animal perform a similar movement. Hence the name.

This is probably why, just seeing a person yawn, we also want to yawn. At this point, mirror neurons give a certain impulse, which provokes an involuntary reaction. In general, these cells perform various functions related to behavior. For example, they are activated when a child learns to speak by copying adults.

The discovery of mirror neurons has helped to better understand some features of the development of children with artistic spectrum and other deviations. Such children are less responsive to the “contagion” effect.

Presumably this is because their mirror neurons are not working properly or something prevents them from being active (lack of energy, systemic inflammation, intoxication, etc.). And, consequently, their response behavior is much less in this regard.

People who are on the autism spectrum tend to look less into the face of others, they may have difficulty recognizing facial expressions and gestures. This is also why they yawn “mirror” less often than others.

What other gestures we involuntarily repeat

Yawning is not the only action that we find it hard to resist repeating. In a similar way we react, for example, to scratching, touching hair – in general, to everything that is associated with body movement.

In addition, vivid emotions also activate mirror neurons. Therefore, both joy and anger are contagious.

We do not always imitate what we see and hear – sometimes we just feel a strong desire to do it. Sometimes even a single word is enough to affect the activity of mirror neurons. For example, if you shout out the word “run” and do it emotionally, most likely, your interlocutor will not be able to refrain from uncontrolled action: if not from running, then from involuntary movement of the leg.

Today, research into mirror neurons and their functions continues. And now you know why it can be so difficult to keep from yawning if someone yawns nearby.