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Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain
- allears 8mo agopaywall
- gpvos 8mo agohttps://archive.is/lTghJ https://archive.is/lTghJ
- MPSimmons 8mo agoThe contagious nature of yawning is so weird. It has to be evolutionarily advantageous because it's so wide spread, but it's also non-obvious.
- clscott 8mo agoA trait doesn’t have to be advantageous to persist just non-detrimental.
- rtkwe 8mo agoYeah that's (to me) a more accurate framing, also evolution is bad at revisions so even if there are minor disadvantages to a setup so long as it's not affecting your ability to have and raise kids it's basically completely absent as far as evolution is concerned. For example there are some wild inefficiencies in body layout left over from fish body patterns where the nerve from the brain to the voice box wraps down around your aortic arch because the relative position of the throat, brain, and heart were very different in fish so the path it took then was more direct. It happens in humans and most hilariously in giraffes where it goes all the day down their enormous necks.
- cyanydeez 8mo agoIf Giraffe could speak, would they then be perceptibly delayed compared to humans?
- seszett 8mo agoWell they make no sound, so that might be related. Maybe it's just really impossible because of this.
- samus 8mo agoThat remains as it is because it's very difficult to evolve away from. Evolution is very good at chasing and sticking around local optima. Big changes are risky.
- EA-3167 8mo agoThey can be detrimental too, especially if they're linked to beneficial traits. The test is ultimately whether or not the harm done is sufficiently disadvantageous that it interferes with reproductive fitness. Baldness is arguably detrimental, but it's linked to a bunch of recessive genes that function in other ways, and it doesn't impact us until we're likely to have already reproduced. That's a simplification, but you get the idea.
- TheGRS 8mo agoPeacocks with their giant tail feathers are my favorite example. They make flying really difficult, but they make attracting female mates much easier. The reproduction need wins.
- awesome_dude 8mo agoAnd that, my friends, is why I bought a Pontiac...
- brnt 8mo agoSo, how many kids?
- AngryData 8mo agoI don't know if I would consider it especially difficult for them. It is obviously not convenient but when I had peacocks they would still fly way up in some tall pine trees to roost even with a full tail without too much trouble. That said these were domestic peacocks so they didn't have to fly very far at all for everything they ever wanted, wild peacocks might have to go farther.
- CGMthrowaway 8mo agoIt is detrimental though. It is socially impolite to yawn in public. Edit: why am I being downvoted for this?
- frisbm 8mo agois it so detrimental that it leads to a person never finding a mate and reproducing? Maybe for a totally extreme outlier, but probably not
- CGMthrowaway 8mo agoIs that the right criteria? A trait must be completely, 100% disqualifying as a mate or else it sticks around? Our ancestors used to have tails. We no longer have tails. Plenty of people wear artificial tails today and get laid, it's not a 100% disqualifying trait
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- vizzier 8mo agoNatural selection doesn't require 100% disqualifying, it just needs a slight preference and a shit load of time.
- CGMthrowaway 8mo agoYes that is more along the lines I was thinking
- torben-friis 8mo ago>Plenty of people wear artificial tails today and get laid …Do they? What did I miss?
- SAI_Peregrinus 8mo agoCleanup at hotels after furcon.
- frisbm 8mo agoand not even that, I'd narrow it further to not detrimental before and during the prime reproductive periods of a species. After that period, detrimental traits are totally fair game and more dependent on technology, culture, and family care dynamics. Heart disease later in life caused by genetic predisposition to high cholesterol isn't something people generally select for or against in a partner, but its effects happen later in life well after people have children so it passes on.
- toasterlovin 8mo ago> Heart disease later in life caused by genetic predisposition to high cholesterol isn't something people generally select for or against in a partner, but its effects happen later in life well after people have children so it passes on. That depends. It can still affect genetic fitness if it affects an individual's ability to confer benefits on their descendants. Of note: most of the most wealthy and influential people in our society are beyond their reproductive years (not technically true for men, but mostly true in practice).
- samus 8mo agoParents must also be alive for long enough to care for their children until they can sustain themselves.
- kasabali 8mo agojust reading the title made me yawn for real.
- mannycalavera42 8mo agosame here
- marcelbundle 8mo agogot me also
- nickthegreek 8mo agoI literally yawned as I clicked on this article from my RSS reader. The contagious nature at the mere idea of a yawn is wild.
- davidw 8mo agoMe too but I also wonder how much I'm influenced by knowing that that is supposed to happen.
- embedding-shape 8mo agoI yawned as I read the title on the frontpage. Smiled a bit when I read the rest of the comments. Contagious beyond physical proximity sure is wild.
- carlmr 8mo agoI yawned when I read your comment.
- InsideOutSanta 8mo agoI want to yawn, but I'm fighting it. Not all heros wear capes.
- kgwxd 8mo agoJust about all our behaviors are contagious. Scratching, deep breath, emotion, looking in a certain direction, sudden alertness. If yawning were different, that would be weird.
- nickthegreek 8mo agoMost of those can also be done consciously though. Yawning is different. It is more inline with flatulence, crying, or vomiting. Actions that are in many ways, outside of our direct control.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- HPsquared 8mo agoIt's a bit like laughing. Synchronise the mood of the group. I assume other mammals have contagious yawns too?
- dcrazy 8mo agoCats certainly do. Strangely, dogs sneeze to show deference.
- rudyfink 8mo agoAfrican wild dogs use sneezes to "vote" to make decisions. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/284/1862/20170347/84604/Sneeze-to-leave-African-wild-dogs-Lycaon-pictus https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/284/1862/201...
- amelius 8mo agoIs yawning contagious between species?
- ksenzee 8mo agoIt is! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9332820/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9332820/
- dylan604 8mo agoMy cat always responds when I yawn regardless of what room either of us are in.
- wjb3 8mo agoI think you're onto something here. Does anyone know if there are examples of very non-social species yawning (i.e., something that has a brief mating period with no prolonged pair bonding, and then it lays eggs and takes off)?
- wjb3 8mo agoSo, I tried to track down an answer. And, apparently, there’s currently no well-replicated study showing true contagious yawning in a species that is otherwise non-social and non-bonding.
- B-Con 8mo agoYawing seems like it must be adventurous, the contagious part not so much. Even the mention of a yawn can trigger it. Perhaps we are almost always in a state of needing a yawn, but the trigger is seldom met, and seeing or hearing about it is enough to make our brain go "oh yeah I forgot about that". Perhaps yawning is actually underdeveloped and an ideal human would yawn at regular intervals without any prompting.
- kakacik 8mo agoNot so much if you think about if from security point of view of our ancestors. Those 1-2s if we talk about proper yaw you are defenseless and clueless, its actually pretty dangerous during say high speed drive on tightly packed highway (as in every single car in all lanes goes too fast to handle any major driver's mistake). But its great for equalizing pressure in ear via eustach tube without the need to block & blow your nose, something both mountaineers/paragliders and divers are well aware of. Same goes for sneezing, actually that's even worse for driving, I literally don't see anything for a second at least. Sometimes can be blocked, sometimes not so much.
- baggy_trough 8mo agoIt is strange how well yawning is conserved, even as far back as in reptiles, since it doesn't really seem to do anything.
- angst_ridden 8mo agocontagi-yawn
- Terr_ 8mo agoI assumed it was a kind of warning system: "Another member of the tribe detected impairment/fatigue and took measures to become more alert, perhaps you should raise alertness also."
- adrianmonk 8mo agoThere's probably a strong survival advantage in convincing whoever is leading a meeting that it's time to adjourn.
- ectospheno 8mo agohttps://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.695005v1 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.695005v1 Is that the paper in question?
- adrian_b 8mo agoIt appears so.
- layer8 8mo ago> “Each individual seems to have what looks like an individual yawning signature” I’m looking forward to “yawn to unlock”. Also, what’s the deal with that article image?
- yread 8mo ago> yawning is not simply an intensified breath but a distinct cardiorespiratory manoeuvre that reorganizes neurofluid flow Brilliant, I'll use that next time I yawn somewhere inappropriately.
- cyanydeez 8mo agoI've just reorganized my neurofluid flow, that's how I feel about this.
- rustyhancock 8mo agoYawning is so baffling, I woke in the night to yawn yesterday. I was turning over in bed and suddenly found myself yawning enough to perk my sleepy awareness. Distinctly remember being outraged. Makes more sense I suppose if yawning isn't just signalling sleepiness to do it even while asleep!
- tetris11 8mo ago> If an animal is drowsy or bored, it will be less alert than when fully awake and less prepared to spring into action. "Contagious" yawning could be an instinctual signal between group members to stay alert. > Anecdotal evidence suggests that yawning helps increase a person's alertness. > Paratroopers have been noted to yawn during the moments before they exit their aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn
- loire280 8mo agoReminds me of a recent finding that attention lapses in a sleep-deprived brain correlate with flushing of cerebrospinal fluid (almost a garbage collection pause). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45771636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45771636
- CAP_NET_ADMIN 8mo agoGotta switch to ZGC
- eek2121 8mo agoThis article made me yawn. :)
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- tempestn 8mo agoThere was an article posted recently about a new discovery around CSF flows during sleep too. It sounds like yawning causes similar flows, which could maybe explain why you yawn more when tired? It could be a compensation mechanism to provide a bit of the same effect you normally get when sleeping. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45771636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45771636
- calini 8mo agoYou know how yawning is also a social function, and seeing someone yawn makes you yawn? I just got forced into a good neurofluid flow reorganization session just by reading the title.
- ljsprague 8mo agoWhy do I yawn more when I'm cold?
- whalesalad 8mo agocold = contracted vessels etc = less fluid movement = yawn required. happens to me a lot when i am on shrooms too
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- ncr100 8mo ago"To tire, perchance to yawn."
- zb3 8mo agoI did not read the article. But my question is - does it mean yawning (like trying to yawn on purpose which in my case will make me "really" yawn soon) influences those fluids inside my brain? Or - a change in those fluids makes me yawn?