Yawning

Something everyone does almost every day, which is yawn. We process yawns socially and take them as someone is tired or bored, but according to research there is more to the story. First, a new theory on yawning is that a yawn helps cool the brain. Subjects in a study yawned more when their brains were warmer.

Next, most people have recognized that yawns are contagious. An evolutionary theory suggests that we are biologically predisposed to yawn when someone else does either because we are helping each other stay alert to dangers. Actually it helps us stay awake or that it is some anxiety. It is fascinating to me that such a basic behavior is still so mysterious. It also might make us all think twice before taking a yawn during a social interaction as some sort of insult or indication that a conversation is boring.