-
- PARIS, April 28 (Reuters Life!) - We do it
when we're tired, when we're bored or when we're
hungry; parachutists have been seen to do it
before a jump, and research has even suggested a
link between yawning and sexual arousal.
-
- But the exact causes and function of yawning
remain a mystery, and one that until recently
was surprisingly under-documented in the
scientific world.
-
- Now a French family doctor, Olivier
Walusinski, has published what is billed as the
first ever textbook on the subject, "The Mystery
of Yawning in Physiology and Disease" a
collection of the latest research on this
baffling and uncontrollable behaviour.
-
- The book will be followed up on June 24-25
with the First International Conference on
Yawning in Paris, which will address issues such
as the role of yawning as a brain-cooling
mechanism and the hidden sexuality of the
yawn.
-
- "There are a number of theories, but there's
no formal proof as yet of why we yawn,"
Walusinski told Reuters.
-
- What is known is that the average human will
yawn around 250,000 times over the course of his
life, and that babies in the womb do it from as
early as 12-14 weeks, suggesting it plays an
important neurophysiological role.
-
- "If a foetus weighing just 60 g (2.116 oz)
can expend the amount of energy needed to yawn
and stretch, then it must be absolutely vital to
its development," Walusinski said.
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- POPULAR MISCONCEPTION
- Birds do it, fish do it, in fact nearly all
cold and warm-blooded vertebrates do it, with
the exception of giraffes and whales which have
not yet been caught gaping involuntarily. In
humans, yawning is still widely believed to
increase oxygen levels in the blood and
eliminate excess carbon dioxide, but this theory
was ruled out as far back as the 1980s.
-
- "The idea dates back to the 17th century,
but studies by the American Robert Provine...
showed that the concentrations of gases in the
blood remained exactly the same before and after
yawning," said Walusinski.
-
- Instead, the fact we yawn when we're sleepy
or bored has led recent research to suggest it
is used to increase vigilance.
- Yawning when hungry is thought to support
this theory although, unlike lions and other
carnivores, humans no longer need heightened
instincts to hunt down their prey.
-
- As for why parachutists yawn before a
death-defying jump, this again could be to
increase vigilance, but there is also
speculation it could help counter a rise in
stress.
-
- Rats subjected to stressful stimuli in cages
have certainly been found to yawn more
frequently, however exactly what function their
mouth gaping serves has yet to be shown.
-
- BRAIN COOLING?
- Another theory is that yawning helps to cool
the brain, protecting cerebral activity and
boosting efficiency.
- But before you use this excuse in the next
boring meeting, it's worth noting that the idea
raises a number of questions, such as why we
don't yawn more during a fever, and why snakes
yawn when they have no temperature regulating
mechanism.
-
- What is certain is that yawning is catching,
Walusinski said, and this has been linked to
empathy in humans.
- Neuroimagery has shown the same parts of the
brain light up when we feel empathy as when we
"catch" a yawn, while personality tests have
shown people with schizophrenia or autism are
less likely to be affected.
-
- A Dutch researcher has also suggested a link
between yawning and sexuality in humans, based
on circumstantial evidence such as
representations of yawning in literature and the
visual arts.
-
- Popular imagery, for example, frequently
shows a gaping mouth, stretching and thrusting
out of the chest as an erotic posture in women,
supporting the idea that yawning has a sexual
side and could indeed be an invitation to
sex.
- In animals, Walusinski noted, the link is
far more obvious.
-
- "In macaque monkeys, the dominant male yawns
before and after mating, and this is
testosterone-dependent," said Walusinski.
-
- Castration, he said, causes the male to lose
his dominant status, and the yawning stops.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)
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-
- Comments
-
- 1°) (NT) I am a retired journalist
living in New Zealand. I have just read of your
book on yawning and the forthcoming
international conference on this subject, which
has long interested me as an amateur.
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- I am not an expert, but one thing I have
noticed from practical observation is that when
I yawn repeatedly during daytime, the way to
stop it is to drink water. I am sure there are
multiple causes for yawning, but I suggest that
possibly thirst (or need for liquid) is
one.
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- During my working career I have often been
in meetings where people have yawned and then
said: "I'm sorry - that's strange, I had plenty
of sleep last night and I'm not tired or bored,
so I don't know why I'm yawning". I have then
suggested that they drink a glass of water, and
it usually works immediately. Sometimes they say
"But I've just had a cup of coffee!", and I say
"No, your body wants water, not coffee". So they
drink water, and stop yawning. The water needs
to be cool, i.e. natural.
-
- I do not discount the possibility that there
may be a psychological factor in this - that the
subject stops yawning after drinking water
because he/she BELIEVES this will stop the
yawning. Or perhaps it is due to a cooling of
the respiratory organs rather than due to the
intake of liquid. All I know is that it seems to
work with me, and with toal strangers whom I
give this advice to.
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- 2°) (DK) I have read some of your
conclusions regarding yawning in MSNBC.com.
However, it seems obvious to me that
yawning stretches out the facial muscles and
causes it to relax. This is much like
stretching any other part of your body.
You do this before sleep to help you relax
and prepare for sleep. Apolo Ohno, US
speed skater, yawns before each race in order to
relieve tension and calm his nerves. As
another example, there exists a relaxation
technique of pressing your tongue hard against
the roof of your mouth for 10 seconds or so, and
then releasing. Some people use this
technique to relax at bedtime and to prepare for
sleep. This again releases tension and
causes your face to relax. There are so
many muscles in your face, that if you can relax
your face, your entire body will
relax. You can also hold other
muscles in your body - in your arms and legs,
for example - tense for several seconds, and
then release them to relax the muscles and to
prepare for sleep. Many people will
stretch their arms as they yawn.
-
-
- Un
médico francés trata de develar el
misterio del bostezo
- 28 de abril de 2010 • 09:19
- Reuters
- Por Vicky Buffery
-
- PARIS (Reuters) - Lo hacemos cuando estamos
cansados, cuando estamos aburridos o cuando
tenemos hambre; hasta los paracaidistas tienden
a hacerlo antes de saltar. Ahora, un nuevo
estudio sugirió un posible vínculo
entre el bostezo y la estimulación
sexual.
-
- Sin embargo, las causas exactas y la
función del bostezo siguen siendo un
misterio, y, hasta hace poco, había sido
escasamente documentado en el mundo
científico.
-
- Un médico de familia francés,
Olivier Walusinski, publicó lo que
algunos han proclamado como el primer libro de
texto sobre la materia, 'The Mystery of Yawning
in Physiology and Disease', una colección
de los últimos hallazgos sobre este
desconcertante e incontrolable
comportamiento.
-
- El libro será tratado el 24 y 25 de
junio en la Primera Conferencia Internacional
sobre el Bostezo en París, que
abordará, entre otras cosas, su papel
como mecanismo que enfría el cerebro y su
sexualidad oculta.
-
- 'Hay varias teorías, pero no hay una
prueba formal hasta ahora de por qué
bostezamos', dijo Walusinski a Reuters.
- Lo que se sabe es que el humano medio
bostezará unas 250.000 veces a lo largo
de su vida y que los bebés en el
útero lo hacen ya en la semana 12 a 14 de
gestación, lo que sugiere que juega un
importante papel neurofisiológico.
- 'Si un feto que pesa sólo 60 gramos
puede gastar la cantidad de energía
necesaria para bostezar y estirarse, debe ser
algo absolutamente vital para su desarrollo',
dijo Walusinski.
-
- Los pájaros lo hacen, los peces
también, de hecho, casi todos los
vertebrados de sangre fría y caliente lo
hacen, con excepción de las jirafas y las
ballenas, que no han sido captadas aún
abriendo la boca involuntariamente.
- En los humanos, el bostezo aún se
considera una forma de incrementar los niveles
de oxígeno en la sangre y eliminar el
exceso de dióxido de carbono, aunque esta
teoría fue descartada ya en la
década de 1980.
-
- AUMENTO DE LA VIGILIA?
- En su lugar, el hecho de que bostecemos
cuando tenemos sueño o estamos aburridos
ha llevado a recientes investigaciones a sugerir
que se utiliza para aumentar la vigilia.
-
- Se supone que bostezar cuando tenemos hambre
respalda esta teoría aunque, a diferencia
de los leones y otros carnívoros, los
humanos ya no necesitamos tener los instintos
alerta para cazar una presa.
-
- En cuanto a por qué los paracaidistas
lo hacen antes de saltar, también se cree
que podría estar relacionado con un
estado de alerta. Pero además se especula
con que puede ayudar a contrarrestar un aumento
del estrés.
-
- Lo que es seguro es que es contagioso, dijo
Walusinski, y esto se ha vinculado a la
empatía en los humanos.
- Un investigador holandés
también sugirió un vínculo
entre el bostezo y la sexualidad en los humanos,
basándose en pruebas circunstanciales,
como representaciones de bostezos en la
literatura y artes visuales.
- En los animales, subrayó Walusinski,
la relación es mucho más
obvia.
-
- 'En los macacos, el macho dominante bosteza
antes y después de aparearse, y esto
está condicionado por la testosterona',
dijo Walusinski.
-
- La castración, declaró, lleva
a que el macho pierda su estatus dominante, con
lo cual se acaba el bostezo.
- (Traducido por la Redacción de
Madrid)
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