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NEW - Why Is Yawning Contagious? Dr. Samantha Yammine on the Study That Made Things Weirder
Contagious yawning remains one of the most studied and least understood reflexes in human biology. A new finding about yawning in the womb just made the mystery harder to explain.
Thirty-eight pregnant women at 28 to 32 weeks watched videos and images designed to trigger a yawn. Within 90 seconds of the mother yawning, the baby yawned on ultrasound a significant amount of the time. The researchers confirmed it was not coincidence. The finding matters because we assumed contagious yawning was a learned behaviour that developed over time. Fetuses cannot have learned it yet.
Samantha Yammine's…
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