Everyone must have evaporated, both young and old. But has it ever crossed your mind about why humans yawn? As lay people, we only know that yawning is a sign that someone is lacking sleep or sleepiness. Or is not it?
It is undeniable, yawning is very closely related to sleepiness or fatigue. According to some studies, yawning can be a sign of drowsiness, fatigue, or sleep disturbance. A neurologist from the University of Maryland, United States who has been researching yawning for 30 years, said that someone yawns as a sign of fatigue. According to him, people will yawn when approaching bedtime or after waking up.
In addition, yawning is thought to have something to do with boredom. The same expert conducted an experiment regarding the relationship between yawning and boredom by dividing the two groups of teenagers. The first group was given a watch about an unattractive color test, while the second group was given a watch of a music video.
The results showed that adolescents in the first group seemed to evaporate more than teenagers who were given a music video watch.
Here are some other studies about yawning that have been carried out and their findings.
Humans Yawn to Cool the Brain
Another theory came from a researcher who said that humans evaporate to cool the brain. According to him, when yawning, you will stretch your jaw so strong that it can increase blood flow to the neck, face, and head. When taking a deep breath when it evaporates, cold air will enter the sinus cavity and around the carotid arteries leading to the brain again. This can help remove the heat in the brain.
This researcher also said, a person will more easily evaporate when the air is cold than when the air is hot.
Yawning Is Contagious and As A Sign Of Empathy
A study was conducted on normal children and people with autism. They were invited to watch a video of people who were yawning. The results showed that normal children seemed to yawn more frequently than children with autism. This is considered reasonable because children with autism have disorders that affect social interactions, including the ability to empathize with others. This reinforces the theory that yawning is contagious as empathy for others.
A doctor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, also agreed with the theory. He saw the contagious effect of yawning as the main clue. According to him, the more people are easily infected with yawning, the better their ability to empathize.
He also mentioned, so far the activity of yawning is associated with boredom or drowsiness. He also assumes that the person who yawns when communicating with someone is a sign that the person is uncomfortable during the conversation session.
Signs of Disease
Although it's uncommon, yawning, especially over-occurring, can be a sign that you have certain diseases, such as brain tumors, strokes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, liver failure, or vasovagal syncope (easy fainting).
To ensure this, you should consult your symptoms to the doctor. Usually the doctor will ask about your sleep habits to find out whether you get enough sleep or not. After that, the doctor will do a physical examination and maybe a supporting examination, such as an electroencephalogram (EEG) to determine the electrical activity in your brain. This step can detect whether you frequently yawn due to brain tumors or other brain diseases.
An MRI scan can also be done to find out if your body structure, such as brain tissue, spine, or your heart has a disturbance.
To detect vasovagal syncope, you may need to have a blood test, electrocardiogram (EKG), or echocardiogram.
The reason humans yawn is still a mystery, but you can prove it yourself by answering the following questions.
During reading and seeing pictures of people yawning in this article, did you yawn?
Komentar
Posting Komentar