Why is yawning so contagious? British scientists explain
British scientists have found which part of the brain processes that causes us to yawn when others do.
Reading this, you may begin to yawn is contagious. Why? The researchers decided to examine what is in our brain triggers this reaction.
A team of scientists from Nottingham University found that this process is concentrated in the part of our brain that is responsible for motor skills.
It is precisely in the primary motor cortex occurs dysfunction associated with several disorders, e.g. Tourette’s syndrome.
Thus, according to scientists, the study of the contagion of yawning may also bring us closer to understanding these disorders.
Contagious yawning is a common form of so — called phenomenon of echo, automatic imitation of another’s words or actions.
This phenomenon is observed in the case of Tourette’s syndrome and other disorders, including epilepsy and autism.
To understand that in these moments happens in the brain, the researchers conducted a study on 36 volunteers who watched others yawn.