Yawning cools off the brain
A new study has found that yawning helps keep the brain cool and is not triggered when people become bored or their body needs more oxygen.
US researchers say yawning helps keep the brain cool while the sinuses play a role in that process by acting as bellows, HealthDay reported.
“Brains, like computers, operate best when they are cool,” said lead authors Gary Hack of the University of Maryland and Andrew Gallup of Princeton University.
“The brain is exquisitely sensitive to temperature changes and therefore must be protected from overheating," they added.
The study published in the journal Medical Hypotheses also suggests a new possible role for sinuses which has long been a subject of debate among scientists.
During yawning, the walls of the maxillary sinuses located in the cheeks on each side of the nose, flex like bellows and cool the brain, scientists noted.
“Very little is understood about them, and little is agreed upon even by those who investigate them. Some scientists believe that they have no function at all,” Hack said.
Scientists believe that their theory enjoys some medical implications as excessive yawning often precedes seizures in people with epilepsy and pain in people with migraine headaches.
Doctors may be able to use excessive yawning as a method to identify patients with conditions that affect temperature regulation.
“Excessive yawning appears to be symptomatic of conditions that increase brain and/or core temperature, such as central nervous system damage and sleep deprivation," Gallup concluded.
Source: presstv.ir
