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Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience ·

Volume 3 - 2011 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnevo.2011.00003

Contagious Yawning and Seasonal Climate Variation

  • Andrew C. Gallup1*corresponding author
  • Omar Tonsi Eldakar2
  1. 11 Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University Binghamton, NY, USA
  2. 22 Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA
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Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that yawning is a thermoregulatory behavior. To explore this possibility further, the frequency of contagious yawning in humans was measured while outdoors in a desert climate in the United States during two distinct temperature ranges and seasons (winter: 22°C; early summer: 37°C). As predicted, the proportion of pedestrians who yawned in response to seeing pictures of people yawning differed significantly between the two conditions (winter: 45%; summer: 24%). Across conditions yawning occurred at lower ambient temperatures, and the tendency to yawn during each season was associated with the length of time spent outside prior to being tested. Participants were more likely to yawn in the milder climate after spending long periods of time outside, while prolonged exposure to ambient temperatures at or above body temperature was associated with reduced yawning. This is the first report to show that the incidence of yawning in humans is associated with seasonal climate variation, further demonstrating that yawn-induced contagion effects can be mediated by factors unrelated to individual social characteristics or cognitive development.

Keywords

References

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Citation

Gallup, A. C. & Eldakar, O. T. (2011). Contagious Yawning and Seasonal Climate Variation. Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, Volume 3. https://doi.org/
Received
Accepted
Published
Volume
3 - 2011

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 Gallup and Eldakar.

License: http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement

*Correspondence: Andrew C. Gallup

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