Did You Know That Yawning Cools The Brain?

It is estimated that we perform the act of yawning about 28 times a day under normal conditions. Even though we may seem rude, yawning cools the brain and is important for brain health.

We dedicate 4 minutes of our daily time to this seemingly unnecessary and often uncontrollable activity. We do this throughout our entire life, from the 5th month of pregnancy until our last days.

Why do we yawn?

We tend to associate yawning with tiredness or boredom, but this is not entirely true. In fact, the fetus also yawns, as do most vertebrate animals (fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals).

While yawning in public is considered impolite in many cultures, even highly educated people inevitably do.

Also, yawning can be tremendously contagious. It only takes someone yawning around us for us to have the imperative desire to do the same.

The yawning of the fetus contributes to its development

The fetus yawns since the 20th week of pregnancy, and from that moment on it continues to yawn until delivery.

The fetus does not yawn out of boredom or fatigue. Yawning at this stage of evolution stimulates brain development in a sequential, orderly program . Many studies indicate that yawning signals harmonious progress in the development of the brain and the peripheral nerves that regulate muscle movement.

Fetal yawning is so relevant that its absence is often associated with possible neuronal dysfunction  after birth.

yawn to keep attention

There is a traditional belief that we yawn to oxygenate the brain. However, this theory is unfounded, as we breathe constantly day and night, both through our nose and mouth, regardless of cerebral oxygenation.

The oxygen used by brain cells is transported primarily through the 600 km vascular network of blood vessels that coexist with the brain.

We no longer yawn when we are in apnea holding our breath or when we are in environments with less oxygen.

Some recent hypotheses suggest that yawning would allow us to move from a neural circuit of basal spontaneous activity to a neural circuit of mindfulness.

According to Walusinski (2014), yawning increases the amount of fluid in the brain, allowing an increase in attention and concentration to perform tasks that require greater mental performance. Somehow, yawning would help us switch tasks and maintain mindfulness.

In addition, other research shows that yawning cools the brain and helps regulate the temperature of this organ.

Yawning cools the brain and prevents it from overheating

You can take the following test performed by American researchers at the University of Albany. You need to be around people who want to yawn.

Take a 4°C cold pad and place it on your forehead, being careful not to hurt your skin. The forehead is the area where there are more sweat glands to dissipate heat.

If there are people yawning around you, it ‘s possible that the cold block will reduce your desire to yawn up to five times. However, this does not happen when you place a 37°C block on your forehead.

This experiment demonstrates that cooling the forehead would help cool the brain and eliminate contagious yawning. Alternatively, you can try breathing heavily through your nose to increase cooling. It may also work.

On the other hand,  the increased ventilation that accompanies yawning would help dissipate some of the brain heat. Lack of sleep and mental fatigue after high intellectual activity also increase brain temperature.

Therefore, the desire to yawn increases when we get up or lie down, or when we spend a lot of time intensely working on a mental task. It is a normal and necessary activity, even though it goes against codes of good conduct.

Yawning too much is associated with brain pathologies

It is important to note that excessive yawning (more than 3 times every 15 minutes continuously) can be a symptom of illness.

People who suffer from cerebral infarction, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, migraine, brain tumor, intracranial hypertension, chronic insomnia, or epilepsy tend to yawn much more than normal.

In the case of Parkinson’s, continuous excessive yawning is considered one of the symptoms of this disease.

You shouldn’t be scared if one day you yawn too much, as it may simply be that your brain needs to cool down due to mental fatigue. Yawning is normal practice.

In addition, we yawn more often when taking some medications, such as antidepressants, opioids or anxiolytics. Even too much caffeine can increase the frequency of yawning.

We’re glad if reading this article made you want to yawn. This means that it piqued your interest and increased your mental activity.