Yawning and sex

Just when you thought that scientific research could not get any weirder, comes this latest claim that yawing is an invitation to – yes, you guessed it-- sex! Of course, why we yawn has prompted speculation among scientists for a long time, but this latest research promises a new line of thinking altogether.

After all why do we yawn? Dogs do it, lions do it, and even babies in the womb do it – how come nobody really knows why. Of course, theories regarding why we yawn have been around for a while.

We open wide when we are tired, bored, or hungry. Some have suggested that a sudden drop in blood oxygen or a surge of carbon dioxide pumped out by a tired body, sparks it off but actual measurements do not bolster this claim.

It happens on hot days more than on cold, which leads to speculation that the action cools the brain. On the other hand, someone running a fever indulges in such acts less than normal.
Involuntary gaping peaks just before bed-time when we are tired but, oddly enough, disappears when we are lying, still awake, between the sheets. But it is also common just after we get up – when, presumably, we are not tired at all.
Yawning is catching, too, but as anyone who has sat through a lengthy boring movie can attest, so is laughter, vomiting, or (for men at least) having a pee if in company with other gents so occupied. A yawn, however, is more contagious than any of these. That may be a hint that the action evolved as a social cue – "time for us all to go to bed" – although as usual when evolution and human behavior meet, the tie is speculative at best.

However yawns arise, and whatever they signify, such a spontaneous copying response to a second person's signal of mood is an unmistakable sign of empathy; of an ability to understand and to react to someone else's state of mind. Empathy is what makes us into social and cooperative beings, and the speed and extent with which a person yawns in response to another's involuntary gape may be a quick and objective measure of to what degree he or she might be blessed with those useful talents.

Going beyond these speculations, perhaps it may be time to reflect that an open mouth may be more a sign of some impending change of state rather than a statement of tiredness itself; awake to asleep or vice versa. It may even be a general preparation for some new mental or physical experience. Certainly people expecting something novel to happen indulge in yawning quite frequently; parachutists about to jump tend do it, as did (allegedly) Neville Chamberlain in the moment when the disastrous failure of his Munich discussions with Hitler became clear and war seemed inevitable
As a result some scientists now are claiming to find a tie between sex and yawning, and not just as a "time for bed" hint. They point out that a really deep and lengthy gape is often accompanied by throwing out the chest and putting one's hands behind one's head. That, they suggest, is an erotic posture.

Until not long ago the evidence for any link between a yawn and sex was weak, but a paper at a recent meeting on sexual medicine reported a remarkable effect of a certain mood-altering drug given to women with depression. Several immediately went into uncontrollable bouts of yawning, accompanied by repeated orgasms over many hours.

But if you really want to find out the detailed research behind this claim, you will need to attend the International Congress of Chasmology which will take place in June, 2010 in Paris. The topic to be discussed at this conference is not diving but yawning. And of course, yawning and sex!

I dont know about you but I am not standing in line buying my air ticket for this conference.