• Question: Why is yawning contagious?

    Asked by birsejwh to David on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      I had to google this. See:
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6270036.stm

      Basically, as I said in answer to “why do we yawn”, it’s to grab more oxygen.
      If you thin about it, that means the whole point of yawning is to try to keep you awake and alert for a bit longer when you’re tired. The article above suggests that this also relates to why it’s contagious. We’ve evolved this “if someone else yawns’ I’d better yawn too” reflex, so that the whole group stays awake, which is useful if there’s some danger about.

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