Contagious yawning and
empathy: the same network ?
Humans are social beings. One of the primordial
functions of the brain is to enable optimal interaction
with others. The success of social interaction resides in
the capacity to understand others in terms of motor
actions (intentionality), emotional perception, and a
mnemic and comparative cognitive integration which
separates the self from others (empathy, altruism). In
psychology, all these capacities are referred to
collectively as Theory
of Mind (TOM). It has long been known that yawning is
"contagious"; ethologists speak of behavioural imitation
and neurologists refer to echokinesis,
a term coined by JM. Charcot.
How does such echokinesis turn yawning into a form of
non-verbal social communication related to TOM and
empathy?
Recent neuroimaging studies of contagious yawning,
using blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic
resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI), have shown different
regions of activation:
- posterior cingulate and precuneus activation
Platek et
al.
- right superior temporal sulcus (STS) activation
Schurmann et al.
The absence of significant activations in mirror
neuron areas suggests that this highly stereotyped motor
patterns do not require true imitation and would
therefore not activate mirror neurons.
The finding of ventromedial
prefrontal cortex (vmPFC; BA11) activation
associated with the urge to yawn by a contagion is now
reported by F. Nahab et al. Most commonly, the vmPFC has
been shown to assign relative value to different options,
thereby weighting or biasing future choices and
minimizing decision making time. Many studies have
implicated the vmPFC in empathic processing and ToM
tasks. Brain injured patients with frontal lesions assess
changes in empathic processinsg.
These findings suggest a role for the prefrontal
cortex in the processing of contagious yawning, while
demonstrating a unique automaticity in the processing of
contagious motor programs which take place independently
of mirror neuron networks
La
contagiosité du bâillement et l'empathie:
les mêmes circuits neuronaux ?
Les humains sont des êtres sociaux. Une des
fonctions primordiales de l'encéphale est de nous
donner la capacité d'interagir de façon
optimale avec les autres. Le succès des
interactions sociales réside dans la
capacité à comprendre les autres au niveau
des actions motrices (intentionnalité), des
perceptions émotionnelles, d'une
intégration cognitive mnésique et
comparative séparant le soi de l'autre (empathie,
altruisme), toutes capacités que le psychologie
anglo-saxonne a unifié sous le concept de
"The
theory of mind" (TOM). Il est connu, depuis toujours,
que le bâillement est "contagieux";
l'éthologie parle de réplication
comportementale et, la neurologie, depuis JM. Charcot,
d'échokinésie. En quoi cette
échokinésie confère aux
bâillements une forme de communication sociale non
verbale participant de la TOM et de l'empathie ?
(L'échokinésie
définie par Emile Littré.
De récentes études de
l'échokinésie du bâillement en
imagerie fonctionnelle cérébrale ont
montré l'activation de différentes
régions corticales:
- activation congulaire postérieure et du
précuneus Platek
et al.
- activation du sulcus temporal supérieur
droit (STS) Schurmann
et al.
L'absence d'activation des régions corticales
connues pour posséder des neurones miroirs
suggère que cette stéréotypie
motrice qu'est le bâillement ne requiert pas
l'activation des structures corticales
dédiées à l'imitation motrice
automatique, et n'est donc pas une imitation vraie, au
sens propre.
F. Nahab et ses collègues rapportent, dans
cette nouvelle étude, que le besoin
irrépressible de bâiller à la vue
d'un bâilleur active le cortex préfrontal
ventro-médian. Il est maintenant bien
assuré que cette région corticale
intervient au cours de différentes interactions
sociales comme l'appréciation de choix à
trancher ou à éluder et
accélère la rapidité de prise de
décision. De nombreuses études ont
montré l'activatin du cortex préfrontal
ventro-médian lors de processus
empathiques ou de théorie
de l'esprit (ToM). Les patients, victimes de
lésions frontales destructives,
extériorisent des changements et des
difficultés lors de l'éxécution de
taches de ces types.
Ces résultats suggèrent un rôle
du cortex préfrontal dans le processus de
l'échokinésie du bâillement, en n'en
montrant l'automaticité et, en même temps,
l'indépendance vis à vis des neurones
miroirs de l'imitation motrice.
-Anderson
JR et al Contagious yawning in chimpanzees The Royal
Society Biology Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2004; 271
Suppl 6; S468-470
-Anderson
JR et al Psychological influences on yawning in
children Current Psychology Letters Behaviour, brain,
cognition 2003;2:11
-Campbell
MW et al. Do chimpanzees yawn
contagiously in response to 3d
computer animations? 2008
-Dijksterhuis
A, Bargh JA The perception-behavior
expressway:automatic effects of social perception on
social behavior Advances in Experimental Social
Psychology 2001;33:1-40.
The high co-morbidity of eating disorders and
substance abuse suggests that nutritional status can
impact vulnerability to drug abuse. These studies used
rats to examine the effects of food restriction on
dopamine clearance in striatum and on the behavioral
effects of amphetamine (locomotion, conditioned place
preference), the dopamine receptor agonist quinpirole
(yawning), and the dopamine receptor antagonist
raclopride (catalepsy).
Amphetamine increased locomotion and produced
conditioned place preference. Food restriction reduced
dopamine clearance, which was restored by repeated
treatment with amphetamine or by free feeding. Food
restriction also decreased sensitivity to
quinpirole-induced yawning and raclopride-induced
catalepsy; normal sensitivity to both drugs was restored
by free feeding. The same amphetamine treatment that
normalized dopamine clearance, failed to restore normal
sensitivity to quinpirole or raclopride, suggesting that
in food-restricted rats the activity of dopamine
transporters and dopamine receptors is differentially
affected by pathways that are stimulated by
amphetamine.
These studies show that modest changes in nutritional
status markedly alter dopamine neurotransmission and the
behavioral effects of direct-acting dopamine receptor
drugs (agonist and antagonist). These results underscore
the potential importance of nutritional status (e.g.,
glucose and insulin) in modulating dopamine
neurotransmission and in so doing they begin to establish
a neurochemical link between the high co-morbidity of
eating disorders and drug abuse.
Quand le
bâillement témoigne de l'activité
dopaminergique
L'association fréquente de désordres
des conduites alimentaires et des addictions
suggère que l'état nutritionnel impacte la
vulnérabilité à l'abus de drogues.
Ces études ont porté sur des rats chez qui
on étudie les effets d'une restriction alimentaire
sur la clairance de la dopamine au niveau du striatum et
les effets comportementaux d'amphétamines
(locomotion, emplacment de repos
préféré), d'un agonsite
dopaminergique (quinpirole induisant des
bâillements), et d'un antagoniste des
récepteurs à la dopamine le raclopride
(catalepsie).
L'amphétamine accroît la
déambulation mais aussi produit un conditionnement
à rester à un emplacement
privilégié. La restriction alimentaire
réduit la clairance à la dopamine qui est
restaurée tant par l'amphétamine que par
une alimenation libre à satiété. La
restriction alimentaire réduit aussi la
sensibilité au quinpirole (diminution des
bâillements) et la cataplexie induite par le
raclopride. Une sensibilité normale à ses
deux molécules a été obtenue en
restaurant une alimentation libre. Par contre, le
traitement aux amphétamines qui normalise la
clairance de la dopamine, est incapable de
rétablir la sensibilité au quinpirole ou au
raclopride, suggérant qu'en état de
restriction alimentaire, l'activité des
récepteurs à la dopamine et de ses
transporteurs est affectée par une voie
différente que celle stimulée par
l'amphétamine.
Ces travaux indiquent qu'un modeste changement dans
l'état nutritionnel altère de façon
marquée les voies des systèmes
dopaminergiques et les comportements qui en
résultent. Ces résultats soulignent
l'importance potentielle du statut nutritif
(glycémie, insulinémie) dans les
modulations de la neurotransmission, et ce faisant,
laisse entrevoir un lien neurochimique entre la
comorbidité des désordres alimentaires
(boulimie compulsive) et l'addiction aux drogues.
ed. by Stephanie H.M. van Goozen,
Nanne E. Van De Poll, Joe A. Sergeant
Ed Hillsdale (N.J.); Hove: L.
Erlbaum, 1994
The expression of
emotions in animals and man
An interesting example is the behavior of
yawning. Analysis of the temporal patterning of
yawning has confirmed the folk wisdom that in our
own species it is associated, as is stretching (Provine
Harnernik & Churchak. 1987), with drowsiness and
boredom. It differs from stretching in that it occurs
both in the pre and the post-sleeping phase, whereas
stretching occurs primarily in the post-sleeping
stage.
One of the most curious features of yawning is
its high degree of social infectiousness, suggesting that
it has been ritualized as a signal, possibly
synchronizing states of rest taking (Provine,
1986). Students of primate behavior have reported
yawning to occur in states of fatigue, drowsiness,
stress, uneasiness and tension (e.g., Hinde & Rowell,
1962; Redican 1975).
In some cercopithecines, notably in macaques and
baboons, exposure of the canines during yawning is
assumed to be a signal of threat, because it signals an
uneasiness that in dominant animals spells danger (e.g,
Bertrand, 1969; see Schino
& Aureli, 1989, for a review, Darwin,
1872, Hall & DeVore, 1965.
Altmann
(1967) distinguished three kinds of yawns:
(a) the "true" yawn of drowsiness,
(b) the conflict yawn, shown in
anxiety-producing situations,
(c) the semantic yawn, as a show of
weaponry.
Hadidian (1980)
analyzed the occurrence and the age-sex distribution of
yawning in a macaque species. The situations
ranged from drowsiness to tension. In the later there was
a temporal association with male aggressiveness, although
the display itself did not release immediate responses on
the part of recipients. Remarkably, the performance of
the display showed a strong sexual dimorphism (cf.
Troisi. Aureli, Schino
et al, 1990).
When males grew to adults they began to show
yawns with a comparatively high frequency. In a
chimpanzee community yawning was shown
particularly by the dominant group members (Boekhorst, de
Weerth, & van Hooff, 1991). The fact that there is no
evidence for a similar sex-age-status differentiation in
yawning in the human species (Provine loc.cit.;
Schino & Aureli 1989) suggests that there are
interspecific differences in the degree of evolutionary
ritualization of this response, even though the response
itself appears to be unintended and autonomic in probably
all species.
Dans cet ouvrage sur les émotions, les auteurs
rapportent les travaux sur le bâillement de
R. Provine et
comparent les modalités d'apparition de ce
comportement chez différentes espèces
animales en fonction des interactions sociales de la vie
en groupes.
Systemic and symmetrical stretching
(pandiculation) is yet another notable action
pattern in horses, which has relationship to body care.
The general manner, in which horses stretch themselves as
a stationary form of kinesis, is widely known. The
specifics of such equine stretching actions have much
consistency, as follows: they are usually performed after
rising. Most strteching occurs as a series of actions
including: flexion of the throat, arching of the neck,
straightening of the back, elevation and movement of the
tail, and full extension of the hind limbs. Extension of
the fore limbs, singly or together, is a related
exercice.
This aspect of equine function in which systematic
stretching occurs is a compound phenomenon homologous to
the action termed pandiculation in humans. In consequence
it is necessary now to regard systematic stretching as a
comparative phenomenon with some role in
self-maintenance. It also appears to function as an
expression of well-being, especially in foals, in which
it is very commonly observed. Healthy foals average about
40 to 50 pandiculations per day, in various forms and in
recumbent or upright positions. Being the uniquely
kinetic domesticated animal, the horse presents itself as
a suitable subject in which to note this remarkably
neglected feature of behavior, serving as both body care
and movement (kinesis).
-Fraser AF
Pandiculation: the comparative phenomenon of systematic
stretching Appl Anim Behav Sci1989;23:263-268
-Fraser
AF The phenomenon of pandiculation in the kinetic
behaviour of the sheep fetus. Appl Anim. Behav. Sci.,
1989;24:169-182
Human communication is grounded in fundamentally
cooperative, even shared, intentions. With his new book,
Origins of Human Communication, M.
Tomasello summarizes his ground-breaking work on
cognition and communication in chimpanzees and in human
infants, and creates an evolutionary and developmental
scenario in which language emerges, not from animal calls
or vocalizations, but from manual gestures.
The prerequisites for language lie in intentionality
and theory of mind. There has been dispute as to whether
chimpanzees possess theory of mind. Tomasello argues that
they do, but only to the extent of understanding the
intentions of others. This restricts their communications
to attention-getting and requests. Human language
requires further recursive steps to allow shared
intentionality (i.e. 'not only do I know what you are
thinking but I also know that you know that I know
this'). This leads to the Gricean concept of language as
a cooperative enterprise that goes beyond requesting to
informing and sharing knowledge. Although chimps donot
seem capable of shared intention, Tomasello finds
evidence for it in the pointing behaviour of human
infants from the age of about 1 year. In human
development, as in evolution, the bases for language are
evident in manual gesture, whether it then proceeds to
sign language or to speech.
Dans son derner livre M.
Tomasello revoit l'origine des moyens de
communication humaine à l'aide des
dernières découvertes de la
neuropsychologie en comparant l'évolution du
chimpanzé et de l'enfant de l'homme. Il montre
ainsi que le langage n'est pas une modélisation
des vocalisations animales mais une évolution de
la gestualité manuelle. Il souligne l'apport, dans
la communication entre humains, de la
récursivité du langage dont le
chimpanzé ne dispose pas: "je sais que tu penses
que je pense que tu sais".
Olivier Walusinski &
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It is also working on the first
book in English specifically dedicated to yawning, to be
published by Karger in Switzerland as part of their
series entitled "Frontiers
of Neurology and Neurosciences",
Julien Bogousslavsky, Editor.
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L'association
pour la recherche sur le bâillement a
été fondéele
1 mars 2009.
L'association a pour
but:
- de promouvoir le
développement des recherches dans tous les
domaines de l'étude du comportement nommé
bâillement;
- d'organiser les échanges
entre chercheurs, notamment par l'organisation de
colloques, de conférences internationales, de
séminaires ou par tout autre moyen qu'elle jugera
utile;
- de stimuler les relations entre
la recherche fondamentale et clinique aussi bien chez
l'Homme que l'animal;
- d'assurer la diffusion des
connaissances;
- de favoriser les échanges
et collaborations au niveau international.
et l'édition du premier
livre consacré au bâillement en anglaispublié par Karger éditeur (Bâle,
Suisse) dans la collection dirigée par Julien
Bogousslavsky: Frontiers
of Neurology and Neurosciences.
