Why Do We Yawn and Why Is It So Contagious?
Yawning has nothing to do with oxygen. It's your brain's built-in cooling system, and the contagious version taps into the same neural circuitry as empathy.
In this episode, Jen, Chris, and Matt unpack the surprisingly complex science behind one of the most universal human experiences. They dismantle the oxygen myth with the research that disproved it, explain the brain temperature regulation theory and how it works mechanically, explore why contagious yawning is observed across species from chimpanzees to parakeets, and cover what excessive yawning might be signalling. By the end, a habit…
The skinny
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