Contagious Yawning: Why We Do It, What It Shows About Us
Source: Huffington Post
Yawning is a mysterious thing. For starters, just reading that sentence may have caused you to yawn. The behavior, technically a reflex that involves opening the mouth and a simultaneous stretching of the eardrum, is contagious--and the video above sets out to explain why.
The video was created by VSAUCE, a YouTube channel that offers "Amazing Facts & The Best of the Internet." It starts by debunking various myths about yawning. We don't do it for lack of oxygen, and it doesn't just help equalize the pressure in our heads—the real medical reason is less obvious, but you'll have to watch the video to learn what it is. We'll give you a hint: research has shown that people yawn less when they have an icepack on their forehead.
