Unexplainable Yawn baby yawn
Jul 27, 2022
Andrew Gallup, a psychology professor at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, dives deep into the fascinating world of yawning. He unpacks why athletes yawn before races and explores its biological roles across species. Discussion includes how yawning may help regulate brain temperature and even enhance alertness. Plus, the podcast investigates contagious yawning and its ties to empathy and social dynamics, revealing this seemingly mundane behavior as a crucial part of both human and animal communities.
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Athletes and Yawning
- Athletes, like Olympian Apolo Ohno, often yawn before competitions.
- This contradicts the boredom theory, suggesting a different purpose for yawning.
Yawning Across Species
- Yawning is observed in most vertebrates, from fish to mammals.
- This suggests it's an ancient, evolutionarily conserved behavior with a crucial biological function.
Debunking the Oxygen Theory
- The theory that yawning increases blood oxygen has been debunked.
- Studies manipulating oxygen/carbon dioxide levels found no effect on yawning frequency.