Why We Yawn: To Cool the Brain!

By Alex in Health on Dec 16, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Why do we yawn? Andrew Gallup, a researcher at Bingham University, explained that we yawn to prevent our brains from overheating:

If your head is overheated, there’s a good chance you’ll yawn soon, according to a new study that found the primary purpose of yawning is to control brain temperature.

The finding solves several mysteries about yawning, such as why it’s most commonly done just before and after sleeping, why certain diseases lead to excessive yawning, and why breathing through the nose and cooling off the forehead often stop yawning.

The key yawn instigator appears to be brain temperature.

"Brains are like computers," Andrew Gallup, a researcher in the Department of Biology at Binghamton University who led the study, told Discovery News. "They operate most efficiently when cool, and physical adaptations have evolved to allow maximum cooling of the
brain."

Link – Thanks Geekazoid!

(That’s a cute baby named Livia, yawning like a lion. Photo: patata1017 [Flickr])


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  1. beeeky
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    So why are yawns contagious?

  2. Kevin
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

    Does that mean we tend to yawn more during the summer?

  3. Briannana
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    I may seem a bit anal retentive when I make this note, but it irks me (ever so slightly) when I hear “brains are like computers”. It is much more accurate to say that computers are like our brains. Whatever. I know they’re just using a microcosm to explain a more complicated system, but it just bugs the crap out of me.

  4. Gauldar
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    Hmm, so it’s not actualy because your body is not getting enough oxygen? I wonder if we are limited in the amount we are actualy able to process due to heat, much like a computer’s CPU. Would that mean if cybernetics gets to the point of being able to implant features into the brain, we could get heat sinks to allow better cooling to increase our ability to think?

  5. liphttam1
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    Reading this makes my brain over heat *yawn*

  6. stephanie
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    Yes gaulder you are right, it is from not having enough oxygen, not to “cool” the brain that is the most ridiculos thing ive ever heard, my dads a doctor and i am a RN and have never heard of “yawning to cooling the brain” I mean think about it, how exaclty would that work, there is no way that a brisk wind can shoot from your mouth to your brain to “cool” it lol thats just funny to me

  7. Orpheus
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    I’m calling shenanigans on this one. Beeeky’s got it right – why would simply looking at a picture of a yawn make you want to yawn then if it’s all about brain temperature? And shouldn’t this mean that cold people never yawn? Smacks of the sort of thing that went about years ago, about how women shouldn’t learn maths because their brains would overheat. And just as ridiculous.

  8. Rob Sanderson
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    I am glad this guy got his 15 minutes, but its BS.

  9. Josh
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    I thought this idea was thrown out years ago. I thought it was believed that yawning was a mechanism that is used to keep people alert.

  10. eni
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    Interesting idea, but if yawning cooled your brain wouldn’t it have to involve a part of you that’s, well, closer to your brain? Yawning might be able to cool your nasal cavity and sinuses, but they’re kinda in the way of the brain.

  11. Justin
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    wow, am I the only one who actually read the damn article?

    First of all the people who led the study made it clear that contagious yawning is also present in humans

    “He and colleagues Michael Miller and Anne Clark analyzed yawning in parakeets as representative vertebrates because the birds have relatively large brains, live wild in Australia, which is subject to frequent temperature swings, and, most importantly, do not engage in contagious yawning, as humans and some other animals do.

    Contagious yawning is thought to be an evolved mechanism for keeping groups alert so they “remain vigilant against danger,” Gallup said. ”

    As for how they say yawning cools the brain:

    “It’s now believed yawning operates like a radiator for birds and mammals.

    If air in the atmosphere is cooler than brain and body temperatures, taking it in quickly cools facial blood that, in turn, cools the brain and may even alter blood flow. Prior studies reveal yawning leads to a heightened state of arousal, so a morning yawn may function somewhat like a cup of coffee in providing a jolt of energy.”

    Is this right? I don’t know, but only concerns you guys made as to why this can’t be true were clearly answered in the article…

  12. Him
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    I think of our bodies as computers more than just our brains. Think about it, nerves send data and signals to the brain, which is just like the motherboard.

  13. thebonemachine
    Dec 16th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    beeeky
    December 16th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    That’s the first thing I thought about! I was like, hey grrreat, we know now… but wait! why are yawns contagious?? :(

    Scientists, is that your final answer?!

  14. Paulina
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 7:48 am

    Speaking of contagious yawning, i just yawned seeing that baby!

  16. Gauldar
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 8:10 am

    Him, actualy I see the body as the power supply, regulating energy to go to where it needs to be.

  17. Rocky Rook
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 11:38 am

    My brain gets overheated a lot then.

  18. floyd landis
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    I think his brain must have overheated.

  19. sloane
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Does you brain being overheated cause you to be sleepy?

  20. EEM
    Dec 17th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Lots of human behavior is contagious, not just yawning. People mimic the behavior of others around them subconsciously all the time, you just don’t really notice it.

  21. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    Dec 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

    I always thought it was because of a lack of oxygen. At least, that’s what I was taught.

  22. marko
    Dec 18th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

    so does that mean bald people yawn less?


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