We all know that yawning is contagious because surely it has happened to you at some point, but do you know why it happens? We can call it a reflex action, something inevitable, we are quiet and suddenly we see someone else yawning, what happens? well, we do the same even if we are not tired. This instant imitation is what is known as ecophenomenon: the instinctive imitation of the words (echolalia) and actions of another individual (ecopraxia). Yawning is contagious and the culprit may be our brain, the results obtained according to a study by the University of Nottingham, clarify that there is a connection between the neuronal basis of yawning and motor excitability through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In addition, it is produced automatically by primitive reflexes in the primary motor cortex, the area of the brain that is responsible for the movements we make with our body through neural impulses. In the research, in which 36 people participated and were observed while they watched others yawning, it was proved that the possibility of resisting a yawn is very low. On the other hand, some experts say that yawning is contagious because they relate it to empathy or the need to cool our brain. Regarding empathy, yawning among children under four years of age is not contagious, since this is the age at which they begin to have the ability to understand what others experience. Likewise, some animals also yawn, if you have a dog as a pet, you have probably seen him yawn sometime 🙂
Why are yawns contagious?
