Is Yawning Contagious

Is Yawning Contagious?

Yawning is contagious. You can "catch" a yawn. I had to stifle many yawns as I read and wrote about this phenomenon. Yawning is probably programmed into us as stated by Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of S. Alabama Knollwood Hospital.

Yawning is not contagious from species to species. You will not see a baboon for instance yawn when he sees a human yawn. If a chimpanzee or baboon yawns another will follow. And vise versa. The only animal that had an affect on the human response was the yawn of the lion.

Observing people with their mouth wide open does not produce a yawn, but show a person with his or her mouth wide open and covered with a hand has a yawning effect. This is a visual response.

Most people will tell you that a good yawn gives them great satisfaction. Especially when it involves stretching the body along with the facial muscles. A stifled yawn is unsatisfactory and leaves us incomplete and irritated.

Not everyone exposed to yawning, whether visually or simply reading about it will be affected. A persons personality enters into the equation. People who are sensitive to another persons dilemma or problem are most likely to be contagious yawners. The level of empathy for others seems to be directly related. Yet excessive yawning may be a warning to a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease.

This study also suggests that to yawn is to be aware of oneself. We can identify ourselves in a mirror for instance. An infant does not have that ability so the success of a contagious yawn is small. I observed older people in a nursing home. Many cannot identify themselves in the mirror. Yawning to them created no reaction. They had a rather "flat" effect.

People with schizophrenic tendencies also had no reaction to visual yawning. Schizophrenia being one of many psychotic disorders that make it impossible to deal in reality, withdrawal, delusions. A study on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) showed the higher the SPQ score the lower number of contagious yawns.

So the question remains.... Why do we yawn? The answer seems to lie in our brains. Our behavior and state of mind will make us more vulnerable to catching a yawn. Our state of sleepiness