Is yawning contagious :: essays research papers

Is Yawning Contagious?Yawning is patrimonial. You can " go out" a take a breath. I had to stifle many yawns as I hire and wrote about this phenomenon. Yawning is probably programmed into us as stated by Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of S. Alabama Knollwood Hospital.Yawning is non contagious from species to species. You provide not see a baboon for instance yawn when he sees a gentle yawn. If a chimpanzee or baboon yawns other will follow. And vise versa. The only animal that had an affect on the human response was the yawn of the lion.Observing people with their mouth wide flip does not produce a yawn, but show a mortal with his or her mouth wide open and covered with a hand has a yawning effect. This is a visual response.Most people will tell you that a good yawn gives them great satisfaction. Especially when it involves reaching the body along with the facial muscles. A stifled yawn is unsatisfactory and leaves u s incomplete and irritated.Not everyone exposed to yawning, whether visually or b bely reading about it will be affected. A persons personality enters into the equation. race who are sensitive to another persons dilemma or problem are most likely to be contagious yawners. The level of empathy for others seems to be today related. Yet excessive yawning may be a word of advice to a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs disease), seven-fold sclerosis or Parkinsons disease.This study also suggests that to yawn is to be aware of oneself. We can identify ourselves in a mirror for instance. An sister does not have that ability so the success of a contagious yawn is small. I observed older people in a nursing home. Many cannot identify themselves in the mirror. Yawning to them created no answer. They had a rather "flat" effect.People with schizophrenic tendencies also had no reaction to visual yawning. Schizophrenia being one of many psychotic disorders th at take a crap it impossible to deal in reality, withdrawal, delusions. A study on the Schizotypal disposition Questionnaire (SPQ) showed the higher the SPQ score the lower number of contagious yawns. So the header remains.... Why do we yawn? The answer seems to lie in our brains. Our conduct and state of mind will make us more insecure to catching a yawn.