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Why Are Yawns Contagious?

I've read somewhere that even fetuses have been observed yawning in the womb even though they don’t take oxygen in through their lungs.

Also yawning seems to be a symptom of multiple sclerosis.
 
pi23 said:
Also yawning seems to be a symptom of multiple sclerosis.
Aaarrgghh! Don't say things like that! It's also a symptom of M.E. narcolepsy and goodness knows what else.
 
Do I hear the panic stricken cry of the potential hypochondriac??? ('cept ME)

It is also symptomatic of trypanasomosis (sleeping sickness) Spongiform encephalopathies. There is also a type of Tourettes syndrome which forces yawning. Any other illnesses others can think of? :p
 
It seems it's still an open question as to whether yawns are uniformly and universally 'contagious' ...

Science still isn't clear if yawns really are contagious
We've all "caught" yawning from other people, but why that happens is unclear, according to a psychologist who has researched the behavior.

"In short, we don't know why yawns are contagious," said Meredith Williamson, a clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine. "Researchers used to think that yawning was only signaling a need for sleep, but now they believe that it can communicate a shift in alertness or boredom."

One theory is that contagious yawning is related to empathy, and that people with higher levels of empathy yawn more often when someone else yawns, compared to people with lower levels of empathy or those with a mental disorder.

"Researchers have seen that yawning may not be as contagious to people with autism or schizophrenia," Williamson said in a university news release. "More research is being done to determine the cause of this."

She also noted that children under the age of 4 and older adults are less likely to yawn in response to somebody else yawning.

Yawning may be an unspoken form of communication, but it's not unique to people, Williamson added. Some species of primates and canines yawn in response to each others' yawns, and dogs will even yawn after a person yawns. ...

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/201.../?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=3
 
I've always believed that yawning being "contagious" was for the same reason that the sound of running water makes us want to pee: When our hominid ancestors were wandering around the hostile environment of East Africa, staying together was the key to survival. When one wanted to stop to urinate, it made evolutionary sense for all to stop simultaneously, so that the lone pisser wouldn't become lost or be eaten by an opportunistic predator.

Similarly, when one member of the troop became sleepy, the whole troop rested.

maximus otter
 
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