Why people yawn when they are sleepy? Are there any biological reasons behind yawning?
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We aren’t sure.
Some people think we might yawn because we take a nice deep breath when we do and it helps get extra air in and wake us up. Some people think we yawn to signal to other people that we are sleepy, as a social mechanism to ‘share’ that sleepy feeling with other people so we all get to sleep as a group. Sleeping in a group is warmer and safer.
But we also yawn when we wake up. This can help us limber up and make our eyes water a bit, a good thing to moisturize and clean out sleepy eyes.
Yawning is weird, because it can be triggered by seeing someone yawn, or even thinking about yawning too much. It activates part of our brain with ‘mirror neurons’ that help lifeforms with them ‘feel’ what other people are feeling.
Is there a biological reason that I yawn when reading about yawning?
I thought it like pressure washed your brain which can help clean broken down neurotransmitters from your synapses . I kinda notice a sort of rumble/vibration when I yawn and usually feel more clear headed after. The same thing happens in sleep to here’s a science article https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23813685/#:~:text=When%20this%20network%20is%20active,accumulating%20in%20the%20cerebrospinal%20fluid.
There are a lot of theories, but I don’t think there’s a definitive answer.
* Body’s attempt to increase awareness/wake up: It is thought that yawning forces the blood vessels to expand, increase blood flow, stretch muscles, and increase oxygen levels all of which may aid in waking you up or increasing alertness. From what I read this doesn’t have much supporting evidence of expanding blood vessels or increasing oxygen levels.
* Temperature control: When the brain is tired, it slows down and needs to work harder to think. This increases temperature. It is theorized that yawning draws in a lot of cool air over the roof of the mouth, cooling blood on it’s way up to the brain and help cool it down. There is evidence supporting this in that people tend to yawn more when it’s warmer outside.
* Social ques: Yawning can give others a heads up that you’re not fully awake, you’re getting tired, and need rest. This is encouraged by the fact that it seems contagious and will cause other people to yawn.
This is one of the more practical explanations I’ve heard:
Your breathing patterns change when you sleep to provide more oxygen to your brain. Sleep is kind of like recovery and repair mode for your brain, and the deeper sleep breathing feeds your brain with oxygen to help with the recovery and repair.
Yawning is your body’s reaction to your brain craving oxygen. A yawn is essentially a very deep breath, and helps your oxygen-hungry brain get enough oxygen to keep it going.
Do people also yawn by reading about yawn? Because I’m yawning non-stop.
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