This Blog Will Probably Make You Yawn...

Yawning.

     We know that yawning is quite contagious. Just while picking the image above, I yawned four times. We know that yawning tends to happen when we are tired or bored but do we really know why? And the more pressing question, what would it mean if we knew the underlying cause? What could that knowledge really be used for. 

     Researchers have been trying to nail down just what causes yawning (because it really is kind of an odd practice). One thing researchers have looked at is who doesn't yawn. They have noticed that those with empathy-related disorders, such as autism, tend to yawn less than whose without. This indicates that there is a certain level of empathy required for yawning, but other researchers argue that yawning is a biological reflex that cools down the brain. (No, it is not to get oxygen to the brain. If you are like me, that is what you were told when you were younger but this has since been debunked.) It is believed that the action of yawning can cool down the brain to wake it up. The true underlying cause may be a combination of these things and more. 

This video explains the two theories and brings up a third concept that incorporates both 

(and it's an asapScience video, and those are great)- 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0dQx4SNSwE

         So, Mirror Neurons. A mirror neuron is one that fires both when observing an action and when performing it. Mirror neurons are the basis of imitation, which we know from class is a large part of imitation and social learning. In humans this means we see someone else yawn and we are forced to also yawn. In animals we have seen these mirror neurons in action and know that this is a lot of how they learn (Dingfelder, 2005). 

Mirror Neurons | Psych 256: Cognitive Psychology SU16 – 2. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://sites.psu.edu/psych256su16-2/2016/06/28/mirror-neurons/

         This means that maybe instead of monkeys being taught behaviors, such as how to eat a banana or which bugs are safe to eat, it could just be imitation. They see a fellow monkey peeling the banana before chowing down and their mirror neurons fire so that once they have that banana in their hand it happens naturally. A fellow monkey did not have to repeatedly show that first monkey that peeling it was the way to go. And just like how when someone smells something gross and makes a face we just reflexively make the same face and might feel our own stomach churn, monkeys probably learn which bugs are safe to eat or not. They may never be outright told by another monkey that a certain bug is bad but they see their fellow monkey flicking that bug away from them in disgust and their mirror neurons fire so that when they see that same bug, they first response is to flick it away. 

          Understanding mirror neurons a little more in detail would certainly help us to clear up this grey area. Right now we can assume it is imitation or we can assume it is learning. There is empirical evidence for both. It is an incredibly hard line to define, and even harder in humans as proof of mirror neurons is less straight forward for us, but would help our understanding of how animals work and the theory of mind that goes along with them. 

         What we do know is that this yawning subject can be pretty difficult to get through though. 

        

Sources: 

Dingfelder, S. (2005). Autism’s smoking gun? Retrieved October 30, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/autism.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0dQx4SNSwE

Mirror Neurons | Psych 256: Cognitive Psychology SU16 – 2. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://sites.psu.edu/psych256su16-2/2016/06/28/mirror-neurons/