麻豆传媒

麻豆传媒鈥檚 Simon Thompson recently wrote an article on the science of yawning for NewScientist Magazine.

The clinical psychology and neurology professor accessed some of the theories surrounding yawning 鈥� including its links to boredom and concentration.

Yawning, Dr Thompson says, has been said to 鈥渉elp us focus on a task鈥� and might 鈥渆xplain why parachutists are encouraged to yawn before they leap鈥�.

In 2007, thoughts that yawning was a mechanism to cool the brain emerged, and Thompson says that 鈥渢his fits with [his] observations of people with multiple sclerosis, who often yawn a great deal when they are tired鈥�.

鈥淭he temperature of the brain rises when we are fatigued, so it is possible that yawning is a mechanism to protect the game from overheating due to tiredness鈥�, Thompson said.

There may also be a link between yawning and concentration, 鈥測awning seems to raise cortisol levels鈥� and in doing so protects the body by stimulating the production of adrenaline to make us more alert鈥�; although Thompson also said that 鈥渢his idea has not been tested鈥�.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of yawning though is its infectiousness: 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible that contagious yawning is something different, and might instead have a social purpose鈥�, added Thompson, 鈥淚 suspect that the social drivers of yawning can override the physiological ones鈥︹��

The article first appeared in NewScientist on December 20th, and is .