Ever yawn in the middle of class and have the teacher single you out, saying something sarcastic like, “Oh, I’m sorry, is my lesson boring you?” Rather than answering “Yes” and preceding to the principal’s office, you can now come back with a better, more accurate and educational comeback: “No, my brain was just too hot.”
According to a report in The Telegraph, yawning isn’t just a sign of someone being too tired or bored. Scientists have recently found that it can be a method of keeping the brain cool. How does your brain get hot, exactly? Well, putting a strain on the brain can lead to overheating, and like electronics, the brain works best when it’s cool.
The study, conducted by Andrew Gallup of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Princeton University, showed that when our brains heat up, yawning is the body’s natural way of cooling the brain down. Yawning allows cool air to rush into the back of the brain, bringing it down to a healthy temperature.
Fun fact about Gallup’s study: even though we yawn to cool the brain down, people yawn more in the winter than in the summer. Could it be that the short days and long nights make us sleepy? Maybe, but he suggests that people yawn more in the winter because their body temperature is warmer than the air around them. It’s not as beneficial to yawn in the summer because the air is usually warmer than our bodies.
So, next time you yawn, say something witty like “Oh, my fast pacing brain just needs to cool down for a moment, mmyes.” Or just yawn, whatever.