Comments on: Why Do We Yawn?

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:49:54 +0000

Unfortunately Dennis, yawning is much more complicated than that. People yawn after yawning, people yawn even when their lungs are fully inflated, people yawn when they see other people yawn. There are confounding factors in making an attempt at a definitive statement such as yours. You might think you have the answer, but don’t you think others have already suggested and tested your hypothesis many times?

Indeed, people yawn while exercising even though they may be pounding a treadmill, breathing heavily and get lots of oxygen into fully expanded lungs.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:45:15 +0000

Comment sent by email from Dennis Regan:

“A Yawn is a Stretch of the muscles around the lungs. The same way that we stretch when we wake up and get out of bed, our lung muscles do the same thing. From the shallow breathing that we do while sleeping or getting tired our lung muscles feel the need to stretch and a yawn is an uncontrollable stretch. Have you ever tried to stop a yawn from happening? It is impossible. The lungs feel the need to stretch and they do it whether we like it or not!

And there is your answer. Hope you and your readers find it fun and informational.”

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:43:24 +0000

@Absta “We” vomit when “we” see someone else vomit? Speak for yourself. Not everyone reflexively vomits at the site or smell of another person’s vomit. Certainly vomiting is not anywhere near as contagious as yawning. But, what’s the “danger” that reflexive yawning is protecting us from, I’d be interested to know…

By: Absta

Absta — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:28:53 +0000

We yawn when we see someone else yawn just like we vomit when we smell/see someone else’s vomit. It’s most likely a ‘just in case’ response that our body does to protect itself from possible dangers.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:00:32 +0000

@Jesse You could ask the same question about any aspect of human curiosity. How far do you think we would have come if everyone had that lame attitude.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:54:22 +0000

We yawn because that’s what we do why does it matter why we yawn

By: Joe K

Joe K — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:04:05 +0000

so there really is no medical reason for us yawning????????

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:09:10 +0000

There is no definitive answer to that question, I’m afraid, just various theories…

By: Courtney

Courtney — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:54:06 +0000

So, what makes it contagious?

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:04:51 +0000

Courney – add air pressure changes, oxygen/CO2 levels changing, air movements, temperature change, any other external stimulus that would affect everyone (and other mammals) in a shared environment…