Latest news with #yawning
National Post
21-06-2025
- Science
- National Post
What we know about yawning, from why we do it to why it's contagious
Yawning is strange. Article content It's not obviously just mechanical, like a burp to release gas pressure, or just psychological, like a yelp to express fear or excitement. A yawn is more like a sneeze or a hiccup, an involuntary breath event that is sometimes more or less resistible. Article content Article content But what is really strange, almost unique among human behaviours, is that yawning is contagious. Article content New research on chimpanzees by a British team of cognitive scientists shows contagious yawning is not only common in other species, and can happen between species, but that it can also be induced in chimps by an obviously artificial humanoid robot, an android 'agent' that is just a creepy looking disembodied head and shoulders, and which doesn't even breathe, but which can still give a believable facsimile of a yawn. Article content Article content The paper, published this month in Nature Scientific Reports, details an experiment in which the chimps were shown three behaviours by the android: a full wide-mouth yawn, a more moderate gaping mouth, and a closed mouth. Article content 'The results showed that adult chimpanzees exhibited across-agent yawn contagion, with a graded response: the highest contagion occurred when the android displayed a fully wide-open mouth (Yawn condition), a reduced response when the mouth was partially opened (Gape condition), and no contagion when the android's mouth was closed,' the paper says. Article content Article content And the chimps did not only yawn in response to the yawning robot. They also 'engaged in behaviours associated with drowsiness,' basically by preparing a comfortable place to lie down. Article content Article content 'This suggests that yawning by an unfamiliar model may act as a contextual cue for rest, rather than merely triggering a motor resonance response,' the paper says. Article content Diverse species exhibit contagious yawning, certainly mammals like dogs and cats, but even fish, whose respiratory system shares evolutionary origins with our own. Article content Most vertebrates yawn, but those that are known to yawn contagiously are usually pack animals, somehow social. This suggests the evolutionary purpose of the yawn is at least partly at the level of the group, not just the individual. A sneeze just tries to blast stuff out of your nose, a burp just lets gas out of your belly, but a yawn means something to other people. Article content Not always, of course, Yawning might, for example, help cool the brain for optimal performance, as one theory holds. But yawning also involves empathy, as its contagious aspect shows. It is a social phenomenon, and catching, like laughter. Article content 'What I find strange is that if we see someone walking, we don't an feel urge to walk. But with yawning, we do,' said Ramiro Joly-Mascheroni, a research fellow in social and cognitive neuroscience at City St. George's University of London in the U.K., in an interview.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Chimpanzees are aping robots and scientists are scratching their heads
A new study reveals that chimpanzees can "catch" yawns from an android robot that imitates human facial expressions. Researchers found that chimpanzees yawned and lay down in response to yawns made by the android robot, suggesting that observing another individual yawn may act as a cue to rest. The study involved exposing 14 adult chimpanzees to an android head that simulated facial expressions, including yawns, gaping, and neutral expressions. Eight of the 14 chimpanzees yawned in response to the android's "yawn" expression, with the highest contagion occurring when the android displayed a fully wide-open mouth. The findings shed light on primates' susceptibility to contagiously induced behaviours, but the exact biological mechanisms surrounding contagious yawning remain unclear, prompting further research.
Times
05-06-2025
- General
- Times
Chimps ‘catch' yawns from a robot — and think it's time for a rest
When robots attain sentience and rise up to take over the world, the chances are that chimpanzees will find the whole thing rather boring. Or at least, this is how it could appear, after scientists found new proof that yawning can be contagious — and believe they may have finally figured out why. They did this via the unusual method of showing that chimps can 'catch' yawns from robots that have been programmed to mimic human facial expressions. Scientists remain puzzled by the contagious nature of yawning and are unsure how or why it evolved in a number of animal species that live in social groups, including mammals and even some fish. The chimpanzee study provided new proof that yawning could be contagious ALAMY Studies have found that more than two thirds of humans end up yawning after seeing someone else do the same, and that yawns can even be contagious between species, for example when a dog yawns after seeing its owner do the same. Some theories suggest that seeing a yawn triggers wiring in the brain known as mirror neurons, which not only fire when the body carries out a particular action but also when you witness someone else performing that action. Catching yawns from others may therefore play a role in a phenomenon known as 'social mirroring', used as a tool to display empathy with your companions. Scientists now think, however, that the brain may see someone else yawning and interpret it as a sign to take a rest, after their study found that chimps not only yawn when seeing a robot do the same, but also then lie down. • King of the swingers: chimps drum like jazz musicians Researchers from City St George's university in London programmed a humanoid robotic head with lifelike skin and facial features to yawn as humans do. They exposed 14 adult chimps aged between 10 and 33 at a sanctuary in Spain to the 'yawnbot', showing them a range of expressions including yawning, 'gaping' and a neutral face, with each lasting ten seconds. The 'yawnbot' used in the study CITY ST GEORGE'S, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that 'chimpanzees will both yawn and lie down in response to yawns made by an android, suggesting that it may act as a cue to rest rather than simply triggering an automatic response'. After a large yawn, the chimps tended to yawn too and would then 'gather bedding materials before lying down'. It is the first time that yawning has been shown to be contagious from an inanimate object and shows just how susceptible non-human primates are to such triggers. They found that yawning not only prompts someone to mimic the action, but sends the message that it is time for bed, suggesting that yawning had 'rest-related inferences for the chimpanzees'. It is possible that yawning can help a social group to co-ordinate their sleep cycles.
