Why is yawning contagious?

How many times have you tried watching someone yawn without getting infected?
How many times have you also wondered what is the strange secret of that infection that afflicts you, as soon as you see someone in front of you opening his mouth to yawn, and if you do not feel tired or sleepy?

It seems that the answer has finally come, as a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Nottingham in Britain revealed that a region in our brain responsible for motor functions, or what is known as Motor Function, is to blame.
The study also revealed that our ability to resist the reaction when someone next to us yawns is very limited, because it appears to be an innate “learned” reaction. That study suggested that the human tendency to contagiously yawn is 'automatic', via primitive reflexes located or stored in the primary motor cortex - the area of ​​the brain responsible for motor function. or motor functions.
She also emphasized that our craving for yawning increases the more we try to stop it. The researchers explained that trying to stop yawning may change the way we yawn, but it will not change our tendency to do so.
The results were based on an experiment conducted on 36 adults, in which researchers showed volunteers to watch videos showing another person yawning, and asked them to resist that scene or allow themselves to yawn.
In the same vein, the researchers recorded the volunteers' reactions and their desire to yawn continuously. Cognitive neuropsychologist Georgina Jackson said: “The results of this research show that the urge to yawn increases the more we try to stop ourselves. By using electrical stimulation, we were able to increase vulnerability, thus increasing the desire for contagious yawning.”
It is noteworthy that many previous studies dealt with the issue of contagious yawning. In one of those studies conducted by the University of Connecticut in the United States in 2010, it was found that most children do not have the susceptibility to infection with yawning until the age of four years, and that children with autism are less susceptible to infection with yawning compared to others.
The researchers also found that some people are less likely to yawn than others.
It is reported that on average, a person yawns between 1 and 155 times when watching a 3-minute movie featuring people yawning! Why

Contagious yawning is a common form of echophenomena, which is the automated imitation of another person's words and movements.
Ecophenomena is also seen in Tourette's syndrome, as well as other conditions, including epilepsy and autism.
To test what happens in the brain during the phenomenon, scientists conducted their experiments on 36 volunteers while watching others yawn.
"arousal"
In the study, published in the journal Current Biology, some volunteers were asked to yawn while others were asked to suppress their urge to yawn.
The urge to yawn was weak due to the way the primary motor cortex in each person's brain works, which is called arousal.
By using external transcranial magnetic stimulation, it was possible to increase the degree of 'excitability' in the motor cortex, and thus the volunteers' tendency to contagious yawn.

The researchers used transcranial external magnetic stimulation in the study
Georgina Jackson, a professor of neuropsychology who was involved in the study, said the findings may have broader uses: "In Tourette's syndrome, if we can reduce arousal, then perhaps we can reduce tics, and that's what we're working on."
Stephen Jackson, who was also involved in the study, said: "If we can understand how changes in motor cortex excitability lead to neurodegenerative disorders, then we can change their effect."
"We are looking for personalized, non-drug treatments, using transcranial magnetic stimulation, which may be effective in treating disorders in brain networks."

Dr. Andrew Gallup, a professor of psychology at Polytechnic University in New York, who has researched the relationship between empathy and yawning, said that the use of TMS represents a significant
A "new approach" in the study of yawn contagion.
"We still know relatively little about what causes us to yawn," he added. Numerous studies have indicated a link between contagious yawning and empathy, but the research supporting this relationship is non-specific and uncorrelated.”
He continued, "The current findings provide further evidence that contagious yawning may not be related to the empathy process."