Title

Yawns Are Cool

Authors

Andrew C. Gallup, SUNY Polytechnic Institute - Utica
Omar T. Eldakar, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-20-2017

Publication Title

Frontiers for Young Minds

ISSN

2296-6846

Volume

5

Issue/No.

52

First Page

1

Last Page

8

Abstract

Although we yawn each and every day, most people have little understanding of why we do it. In fact, the function of yawning has remained mysterious for centuries, even among scientists, and this has only changed quite recently. Contrary to what people have believed for a long time, it is now understood that yawns have nothing to do with breathing or the amount of oxygen we are taking in. Instead, new and growing research has revealed that yawns serve as a brain cooling mechanism. This new perspective on yawning as a response to elevated brain temperature has transformed our understanding of this commonly overlooked and misinterpreted behavior. This information might be useful for treating and diagnosing medical conditions that are accompanied by frequent yawning and for monitoring and improving our brain’s performance throughout the day.

Comments

©2017 Gallup and Eldakar

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

NSUWorks Citation

Gallup, Andrew C. and Omar T. Eldakar. 2017. "Yawns Are Cool." Frontiers for Young Minds 5, (52): 1-8. doi:10.3389/frym.2017.00052.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4807-4979

DOI

10.3389/frym.2017.00052