The importance of
social bonding in shaping yawn contagion in bonobos, as
it occurs in humans
In humans, the distribution of yawn contagion is
shaped by social closeness with strongly bonded pairs
showing higher levels of contagion than weakly bonded
pairs. This ethological finding led the authors to
hypothesize that the phenomenon of yawn contagion may be
the result of certain empathic abilities, although in
their most basal form. Here, for the first time, they
show the capacity of bonobos (Pan paniscus) to respond to
yawns of conspecifics. Bonobos spontaneously yawned more
frequently during resting/relaxing compared to social
tension periods.
The results show that yawn contagion was context
independent suggesting that the probability of yawning
after observing others' yawns is not affected by the
propensity to engage in spontaneous yawns. As it occurs
in humans, in bonobos the yawing response mostly occurred
within the first minute after the perception of the
stimulus. Finally, via a Linear Mixed Model they tested
the effect of different variables (e.g., sex, rank,
relationship quality) on yawn contagion, which increased
when subjects were strongly bonded and when the
triggering subject was a female. The importance of social
bonding in shaping yawn contagion in bonobos, as it
occurs in humans, is consistent with the hypothesis that
empathy may play a role in the modulation of this
phenomenon in both species.
The higher frequency of yawn contagion in presence of
a female as a triggering subject supports the hypothesis
that adult females not only represent the relational and
decisional nucleus of the bonobo society, but also that
they play a key role in affecting the emotional states of
others.
De l'importance du
lien social dans la réplication des
bâillements chez le Bonobo
Le bâillement n'est pas le propre de l'Homme
puisqu'il s'observe également chez presque tous
les vertébrés. Mais il n'en est pas de
même pour la réplication alias "contagion".
Une étude menée par l'équipe de
l'Université de Pise montre que chez le Bonobo
(Pan paniscus) la réplication du bâillement
ressemble de près à celle de l'Homme. Chez
les bonobos, vivant en "groupes sociaux", le
bâillement se communiquerait inconsciemment pour
synchroniser certains états ou certaines
actions.
Douze bonobos (2 mâles, 6 femelles et 4 jeunes)
appartenant à la colonie du zoo d'Apenheul (NL)
ont été observés durant 502 heures,
permettant l'analyse de 1 260 bâillements. Ceux
réalisés par les jeunes ont
été éliminés de
l'étude car les petits semblent insensibles
à la réplication comme le petit humain
avant quatre ans.
Les Bonobos bâillent spontanément 5 fois
plus souvent lorsqu'ils sont détendus, c'est
à dire en dehors de périodes
marquées par des tensions sociales. En revanche,
la réplication de ce comportement survient en
moins de 2 mn et ne dépendrait pas du climat
social, de façon comparable à ce qui
s'observe chez l'Homme.
Des analyses statistiques ont été
réalisées pour tester l'influence de
plusieurs paramètres (sexe, rang social,
parenté, etc.) sur la réplication. Celle-ci
tend à augmenter entre des sujets liés,
tels de proches parents, ou lorsque c'est une femelle qui
bâille spontanément en premier. Les liens
sociaux joueraient donc un rôle important dans ce
comportement… une fois de plus, comme chez
l'Homme.
Ce résultat semble conforter
l'hypothèse proposée pour l'Homme, d'un
lien phénoménologique avec l'empathie (et
non la sympathie comme le suggère Alain Berthoz).
Le fait que les femelles déclenchent une plus
grande propagation du comportement s'expliquerait par le
rôle dominant des femelles chez les Bonobos.
Yawning replication
seems to disappear in old-old subjects
The aim of this experimental study is to understand
the developmental trend of a behaviour having social
features as contagious yawning.While spontaneous yawning
already occurs in human foetuses and modifies across
lifespan,little is known about developmental changes of
yawning as a "response" to a social stimulus, that is
contagious yawning.
Differently from spontaneous yawning, occuring very
early in life, contagious yawning appears for the first
time at five years of age, probably linked to the
acquisition of a Theory of Mind (ToM). The contagious
effect of yawning is also observed in young adults, but
no data are available in elderly subjects.
The authors investigated the contagious sensitivity
to yawning in the elderly evaluating the contagious
effect of yawning in 22 young adults (range 18-35 years),
10 young-old subjects (range 57-67 years) and 9 old-old
subjects (range 71-87 years). All subjects underwent a
stimulus condition, coupled with the respective control
condition.The stimulus and control conditions consisted
of video clips of young adults performing respectively
yawns and smiles. The number of yawns performed by each
subject during each stimulus and control condition was
compared in order to assess the contagious effect.
The contagious effect of yawning was present in young
subjects and young-old subjects, whereas it seems to
disappear in old-old subjects.The parallel changes of
contagious yawning and ToM abilities across the lifespan
suggest that similar mechanisms are involved in ToM
abilities, like in contagious sensitivity to yawning.
Besides, changes in the response to other's people yawns
during very old age could reflect ToM difficulties,
reported in old-old subjects, mainly in the cognitive
component of ToM.
La capacité
à répliquer un bâillement semble se
réduire avec le vieillissement
Le but de cette étude est d'étudier la
capacité de la réplication du
bâillement chez les personnes âgées.
Rappelons que cette réplication apparaît
chez l'enfant vers 4 ans, comme le fait a théorie
de l'Esprit. Les auteurs montrent que cette
capacité se réduit avec le grand âge
comme le font les capacités à utiliser la
théorie de l'Esprit, témoignant de
mécanismes similaires. Cette évolution
d'une capacité comportementale évoluant
tout au long de la vie infirme, à nouveau,
l'idée que la réplication du
bâillement est une simple imitation automatique
apparentée aux "sympathies" motrices.
-Giganti F,
Hayes MJ Cioni G, Salzarulo P Yawning frequency and
distribution in preterm and near term infants assessed
throughout 24-h recordings Infant Behav & Development
2007;30(4):641-647
-Giganti F,
Ziello ME Contagious and spontaneous yawning in
autistic and typically developing children CPL 2009
-Giganti
F, Zilli I. The daily time course of contagious and
spontaneous yawning among humans. J Ethol
2011;29(2):215-216
-Giganti
F, Toselli M, Ramat S. Developmental trends in a
social behaviour: contagious yawning in the elderly.
Giornale di Psicologia dello Sviluppo.
2012;101:111-117
The beta-lactamase
inhibitor clavulanic acid induces yawning and
erection
The beta-lactamase inhibitor clavulanic acid induced
penile erection and yawning in a dose dependent manner
when given intraperitoneally (IP, 0.05-5mg/kg), perorally
(OS, 0.1-5mg/kg) and intracereboventricularly (ICV,
0.01-5?g/rat) to male rats.
The effect resembles that of the dopamine receptor
agonist apomorphine given subcutaneously (SC)
(0.02-0.25mg/kg), although the responses of the latter
followed a U inverted dose-response curve, disappearing
at doses higher than 0.1mg/kg.
Clavulanic acid responses were reduced by about 55%
by haloperidol, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist
(0.1mg/kg IP), and by
d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin, an oxytocin
receptor antagonist (2?g/rat ICV), both given 15min
before clavulanic acid. A higher reduction of clavulanic
acid responses (more than 80%) was also found with
morphine, an opioid receptor agonist (5mg/kg IP), and
with mianserin, a serotonin 5HT(2c) receptor antagonist
(0.2mg/kg SC). In contrast, no reduction was found with
naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist (1mg/kg IP).
The ability of haloperidol,
d(CH(2))(5)Tyr(Me)(2)-Orn(8)-vasotocin and morphine to
reduce clavulanic acid induced penile erection and
yawning suggests that clavulanic acid induces these
responses, at least in part, by increasing central
dopaminergic neurotransmission.
Dopamine in turn activates oxytocinergic
neurotransmission and centrally released oxytocin induces
penile erection and yawning. However, since both penile
erection and yawning episodes were reduced not only by
the blockade of central dopamine and oxytocin receptors
and by the stimulation of opioid receptors, which
inhibits oxytocinergic neurotransmission, but also by
mianserin, an increase of central serotonin
neurotransmission is also likely to participate in these
clavulanic acid responses.
L'acide
clavulanique, inhibiteur de la beta-lactamase,
déclenche des bâillements et des
érections
Donné en intra péritonéal ou per
os ou en intra-ventricullaire, l'acide clavulanique,
inhibiteur de la beta-lactamase, déclenche
érections et bâillements de façon
doses dépendantes. Les auteurs montrent que cet
effet est le résultat d'une augmentation de la
neurotransmission dopaminergique centrale. A la suite la
dopamine stimule des neurones ocytocinergiques qui
déclenchent érections et
bâllements
Mais comme les épisodes d'érections et
de bâillements sont réduits ou
supprimés non seulement en bloquant les
récepteurs à la dopamine et à
l'ocytocine, et par la simulation des récepteurs
aux opioïdes qui inhibent la neurotransmission
ocytocinergique, mais aussi par la miansérine, les
auteurs proposent que l'acide clavulanique agit aussi en
augmentation la neurotransmission sérotoninergique
centrale.
A
medicinal
dictionary:
including physic, surgery, anatomy, chymistry, and
botany. In all their branches relative to medicine.
Together with a history of drugs; ... With copper
plates
