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Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

newscientist.com

51–60 of 82 posts

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#51
post #19
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A trait doesn’t have to be advantageous to persist just non-detrimental.

and 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 ha…

> 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).

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#53
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah 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…

If Giraffe could speak, would they then be perceptibly delayed compared to humans?

Well they make no sound, so that might be related. Maybe it's just really impossible because of this.

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#54

The 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.

It's a bit like laughing. Synchronise the mood of the group. I assume other mammals have contagious yawns too?

I 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)?

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#57
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit like laughing. Synchronise the mood of the group. I assume other mammals have contagious yawns too?

I 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)?

So, 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.

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#58
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit like laughing. Synchronise the mood of the group. I assume other mammals have contagious yawns too?

Cats certainly do. Strangely, dogs sneeze to show deference.

My cat always responds when I yawn regardless of what room either of us are in.

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#59
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A trait doesn’t have to be advantageous to persist just non-detrimental.

It is detrimental though. It is socially impolite to yawn in public. Edit: why am I being downvoted for this?

> why am I being downvoted for this?

Because you don’t know what detrimental means in this context and clearly don’t understand evolutionary timescales?

Re: Yawning has an unexpected influence on the fluid inside your brain

#60
There 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

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