Q & A: Yawns

Q: Why are yawns "catchy"?

A: Yawns are “catchy” because of a mix of biology and psychology:

1. Mirror neurons – These are special brain cells that fire both when you perform an action and when you see someone else do it. When you see someone yawn, your mirror neurons activate, essentially simulating the action in your own brain and making you more likely to yawn too.

2. Social bonding – Contagious yawning is thought to play a role in empathy and group cohesion. Studies show that people are more likely to “catch” yawns from friends and family than from strangers, suggesting it helps reinforce social connection.

3. Primitive alert system – In evolutionary terms, a group of animals yawning together could have helped synchronise their states of alertness. If one member signalled drowsiness or a shift in arousal, the rest of the group might “match” it for survival benefits.

4. Brain cooling theory – Yawning may help cool the brain by drawing in cool air and increasing blood flow. Seeing someone else do it might trigger your own system to “check in” on whether you also need that physiological reset.

So, yawning is catchy because our brains are wired to mimic others, especially those we’re close to, and because it may have once been an important group survival mechanism.

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model