BU鈥檚 Simon Thompson appears in NewScientist Magazine
新加坡多多开奖记录鈥檚 Simon Thompson recently wrote an article on the science of yawning for NewScientist Magazine.
The clinical psychology and neurology professor accessed some of the theories surrounding yawning 鈥� including its links to boredom and concentration.
Yawning, Dr Thompson says, has been said to 鈥渉elp us focus on a task鈥� and might 鈥渆xplain why parachutists are encouraged to yawn before they leap鈥�.
In 2007, thoughts that yawning was a mechanism to cool the brain emerged, and Thompson says that 鈥渢his fits with [his] observations of people with multiple sclerosis, who often yawn a great deal when they are tired鈥�.
鈥淭he temperature of the brain rises when we are fatigued, so it is possible that yawning is a mechanism to protect the game from overheating due to tiredness鈥�, Thompson said.
There may also be a link between yawning and concentration, 鈥測awning seems to raise cortisol levels鈥� and in doing so protects the body by stimulating the production of adrenaline to make us more alert鈥�; although Thompson also said that 鈥渢his idea has not been tested鈥�.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of yawning though is its infectiousness: 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible that contagious yawning is something different, and might instead have a social purpose鈥�, added Thompson, 鈥淚 suspect that the social drivers of yawning can override the physiological ones鈥︹��
The article first appeared in NewScientist on December 20th, and is .
