Yawning has nothing to do with the lack of oxygen

Another myth razrushen

Yawning - it is one of the old biological secrets. The typical explanation for why we yawn, looks like this: we are tired, our brain needs extra oxygen, and we get this oxygen during yawn in order to keep awake.

It turns out it does not work quite like that. Yawning actually affects the brain, but it's not in receipt of oxygen. When we yawn, we breathe not only oxygen. We breathe the air, the temperature of which is significantly lower than the temperature of our body. Inhaled air enters the nasal sinuses, and then the cold air begins to be distributed further in our head. That is yawning, in essence, that the cooling system of our head. There have been many different theories about why we yawn, but it is the only theory that opposes everything else.

And yet, this theory corresponds to another long-standing question: why do we need sinuses besides causing us a headache? It turns out that the inhalation of air and the physical act of yawning work together. Not to make a gust of cold air to lower the temperature of our brains. When a man opens his mouth to yawn, the walls of the sinuses bend, and sinuses start acting like a bellows, sucking air into the head.

This theory has been confirmed by a medical examination, which was conducted on rats. Researchers monitored the temperature of the brain of rodents, and confirmed that every time a rat yawn, a jump of temperature downward. People who have the ability to yawn at any time, also took part in the study, and were able to confirm the validity of the hypothesis and against people.

All this leads us to yet another question: why, when we look at a person yawning, we also have a desire to yawn? Once upon a time it was thought that yawning is contagious, but the high temperature of the brain can be "contagious", is not it?

The answer to this question seems vague. Our brain functions most effectively when it is cooled as a result of the yawn. That is why we yawn, wake up in the morning. Thus, we are accelerating the process of awakening. However, it also allows us to consider a yawn like a sign that there is some reason why we need to stay awake now. That is when you see someone yawn, it can be a sign of some kind of danger, familiar approach of something, or a sign indicating to some other cause, requiring extreme concentration of your brain.

via factroom.ru