Why Is Yawning Contagious?

 "Watch someone yawn, and try not to yawn yourself. It can be impossible to resist. Even reading about yawning can make you do it.

Now, a new study offers insight into why contagious yawning is such a powerful force.

Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of empathy and a form of social bonding. Kids don't develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found. Kids with autism are half as likely to catch yawns. In the most severe cases, they never do.

Yawning might eventually help doctors diagnose developmental disorders. The work could also lead to a better understanding of the subtle ways that people communicate and connect.

'Emotional contagion seems to be a primal instinct that binds us together,' said Molly Helt, a graduate student in clinical psychology at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. 'Yawning may be part of that.'"
via  Discovery News read more