A thermal window for yawning in humans: Yawning as a brain cooling mechanism

作者：Massen, Jorg J M^*; Dusch, Kim; Eldakar, Omar Tonsi; Gallup, Andrew C

来源：Physiology & Behavior, 2014, 130: 145-148.

DOI：10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.032

• Yawning
• Contagious yawning
• Thermoregulation
• Ambient temperature

The thermoregulatory theory of yawning posits that yawns function to cool the brain in part due to counter-current heat exchange with the deep inhalation of ambient air. Consequently, yawning should be constrained to an optimal thermal zone or range of temperature, i.e., a thermal window, in which we should expect a lower frequency at extreme temperatures. Previous research shows that yawn frequency diminishes as ambient temperatures rise and approach body temperature, but a lower bound to, the thermal window has not been demonstrated. To test this, a total of 120 pedestrians were sampled for susceptibly to self-reported yawn contagion during distinct temperature ranges and seasons (winter: 1.4 degrees C, n = 60; summer: 19.4 degrees C, n = 60). As predicted, the proportion of pedestrians reporting yawning was significantly lower during winter than in summer (183% vs. 41.7%), with temperature being the only significant predictor of these differences across seasons. The underlying mechanism for yawning in humans, both spontaneous and contagious, appears to be involved in brain thermoregulation.

• 出版日期2014-5-10
• 单位东南大学