page_title: Yawn
hierarchical_section_title: Yawn
caption_attribution_description: English: "Self-Portrait, Yawning" by Joseph Ducreux (French - Google Art Project)
context_page_description: A yawn is a reflex consisting of the simultaneous inhalation of air and the stretching of the eardrums, followed by an exhalation of breath.
  Yawning most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality. It is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, boredom, or even hunger. In humans, yawning is often triggered by the perception that others are yawning. This is a typical example of positive feedback. This "contagious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles and can occur between members of different species. Approximately twenty psychological reasons for yawning have been proposed by scholars but there is little agreement on the primacy of any one.
  During a yawn the tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear contracts. This creates a rumbling noise perceived as coming from within the head; however, the noise is due to mechanical disturbance of the hearing apparatus and is not generated by the motion of air.
context_section_description: A yawn is a reflex consisting of the simultaneous inhalation of air and the stretching of the eardrums, followed by an exhalation of breath.
  Yawning (oscitation) most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality. It is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, boredom, or even hunger. In humans, yawning is often triggered by the perception that others are yawning (for example, seeing a person yawning, or talking to someone on the phone who is yawning). This is a typical example of positive feedback. This "contagious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles and can occur between members of different species. Approximately twenty psychological reasons for yawning have been proposed by scholars but there is little agreement on the primacy of any one.
  During a yawn the tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear contracts. This creates a rumbling noise perceived as coming from within the head; however, the noise is due to mechanical disturbance of the hearing apparatus and is not generated by the motion of air. Yawning is sometimes accompanied, in humans and other animals, by an instinctive act of stretching several parts of the body including the arms, neck, shoulders and back.
caption: Joseph Ducreux pandiculating (both yawning and stretching); self-portrait c. 1783
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