Everybody welcome back to explain like and five podcast where we take the questions you always want to ask and talk about them In a way that's easy times that you are your host. I'm Tim. Hey, I'm Kevin Kevin you with us Kevin Yeah, sorry, I can hear you actually I was yawning well, that's a good intro Why are we talking about young today? Yes, we are so let's start with this exactly why is your hearing reduced when you yawn?
Oh funny ask so yawning the actually what it happens is that it it tends to certain muscles in your tensor timbani and The pds muscles in the middle of your ear and those muscles eventually put tension on the little chain of bones in your middle ear Which lessens their ability to conduct sound actually so as we yawn the muscles in our draw they contract this affects the ear canal And overall reduces how effective that part of your ear can hear is because it ends up being more rigid and we also partially close the ear canal Too so the parts inside that normally move to help create that sound don't get as much input to register as sound But obviously as soon as the on stops and the muscle relaxes hearing goes back to normal nice Well, what is a yawn in the first place? You know a yawn is basically a reflex it involves a large long taking in of air The stretching of your drums as I mentioned and lastly sometimes loud breathing out. It's easy to see what's on Was yawning but no one knows what's function is actually it's been commonly associated with things like tiredness stress over work lack of stimulation and boredom But in humans yawning is also funnel enough triggered by other people yawning when you can like see someone or you're talking someone who's yawning It can actually pass on to you. It's a typical example of a positive feedback loop and this infectious yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees and dogs too Cats tend to both yawn and stretch.
Don't necessarily at the same time that reminds me. So what is this word? PANDICULATION what does that mean? It's a funny word.
PANDICULATION is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously. Okay, so let's talk about when you stretch your arms in the air That one. Yes, so let's talk about why do we yawn? Well, you know approximately 20 psychological reasons for yawning having proposed by scholars and different folks But there's a little there's very little agreement on a primacy of anyone Some people think is to get oxygen into the system of what is tired, but the truth is really we still don't quite know What studies states that yawning occurs when one's blood contains an increase of amounts of carbon dioxide and therefore becomes in need of more oxygen?
That a yawn can provide but however yawning in fact reduces oxygen intake compared to normal breathing So neither providing more oxygen or you know reducing carbon dioxide in the air decrease the yawning. That's really interesting I didn't Darwin have a point of view on yawning. Yes. Yes, Charles Rondland did he argued in the expression of the emotions in man and animals that if a behavior was present in many cultures Then it must have been inherited.
I don't know. It's been inherited. I don't hardly are partly right? All trace which appear in a wide range of animals must have some function which is supported by natural selection in most cases Obviously that functions obvious, but yawning we still don't know if I know Okay, so another practical question.
Yawning makes my ears pop if I'm on an airplane. What part of the process causes that? Ah, so yeah, those are the these are small tubes connecting your ear canals to your mouth, right? And normally they keep their own internal pressure with large changes like when on a plane you went not equalizing them hurts and hinders your ability here properly So you all can have these tunes open slightly to equalize air pressure and sign causing that popping got it another popular question is What happens when you do not complete a yawn?
Sometimes it's a yawn that is described as very unfulfilling. You don't finish it. You don't finish it off Yeah, yeah, I mean it is usually a manifestation of like underlying stress or anxiety You know when you yawn you stretch a load of muscles in the face and chest and these fat feedback into an area of brain that Is associated with a good feeling or your stress? You can't let go enough to relax fully and achieve that stretch so you tend to feel unsatisfied and Finally, why are you on so contagious?
Oh, that's always a funny one The yawn reflex has long been observed be contagious even all the way back in 1508. I think Aris Mass Row one man's yawn one man's yawning makes another yawn Often if one person yawns is may cause another person to emphatically yawn The immediate cause for a contagious yawning maybe the mirror neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates Which upon being exposed to a certain stimulus activates those same regions in your brain right trying to mirror other people Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for imitation Which lies at a root of much of human learning such as language acquisition and yawning maybe an offshoot of the same Immative impulse and also just the fun final FYI Human yawns are contagious to many dollars as well. We'll have to try that one Today if you did send us a tweet or send us an email I would love to hear from you if you have suggestions on future episodes Thank you as always to the wonderful community at r slash explain right and five on Reddit. We will see you all next week