原標(biāo)題：人為啥會(huì)打哈欠?

深圳翻譯公司

Almost all animals with a spine yawn.

幾乎所有的有脊椎動(dòng)物都會(huì)打哈欠。

Penguins do it as a mating ritual; snakes do it to realign their jaws after a meal and guinea pigs do it to display anger.

企鵝以此為求偶儀式，餐后蛇借此來(lái)整理下頜，荷蘭豬借此表達(dá)憤怒。

So why exactly do humans yawn?

那么人為什么要打哈欠呢？

And is yawning actually contagious?

哈欠有傳染性嗎？

The truth is: the first time you yawned was likely as a fetus. Babies begin to yawn during the second trimester and though the reason why still unknown, it may have to do with proper brain development.

其實(shí)，你第一次打哈欠應(yīng)該是在胎兒時(shí)期。嬰兒會(huì)在3-6月開(kāi)始打哈欠，盡管原因尚不明了，但這可能和大腦發(fā)育有關(guān)。

In adults, yawns were commonly thought to draw more oxygen into the lungs making you feel less tired, but new researches states that this may not be the case.

而成人打哈欠常被認(rèn)為是要向肺部充入更多氧氣，來(lái)緩解疲勞，不過(guò)，新研究卻另有其詞。

Scientists now believe that yawning has developed a way of physiologically cooling your brain.

科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，打哈欠是在通過(guò)生理的方式給大腦降溫。

Much like a computer, you brain work best at a certain temperature, and tries to avoid overheating.

和電腦一樣，人腦也有特定的最佳工作溫度，并且也會(huì)防止自身過(guò)熱。

And it turns out, yawning increases your heart rate, blood flow and the use of muscles in your face, which are all essential to cool your brain.

事實(shí)上，打哈欠可以提升心率、血液流速、并動(dòng)用臉上的肌肉。它對(duì)大腦降溫來(lái)說(shuō)都是必不可少的。

On top of that, deeply inhaling cold air can alter the temperature of the blood in our head.

更重要的是，深呼吸冷空氣可以調(diào)整大腦內(nèi)血液溫度。

But, why is your brain hot in the first place?

不過(guò)，大腦原先怎么會(huì)過(guò)熱呢？

Well, both exhaustion and sleep deprivation are known to increase overall brain temperature which explains why yawning occurs more in these states.

身心疲憊和睡眠缺乏都會(huì)導(dǎo)致大腦溫度升高，這就解釋了為什么這些情況下人更愛(ài)打哈欠。

Researchers have even found participants who place warm packs on their heads yawn 41% of the time while watching others yawn, as opposed to 9% with a cold pack on their head.

研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)，頭上放了熱水袋的參與者在看其他人打哈欠時(shí)，有41%的時(shí)候也會(huì)打哈欠，而頭上放了冷水袋的只有9%。

So if your head is already cold, you will yawn less.

因此，大腦越“冷靜“ 哈欠就越少。

But what about contagious or social yawning?

不過(guò)，受他人傳染的哈欠是怎么回事？

Humans, primates and even dogs finding yawning contagious and it's most likely linked to empathy.

人類(lèi)、靈長(zhǎng)類(lèi)甚至犬類(lèi)都會(huì)被傳染打哈欠，這很可能與“共情“有關(guān)。

Contagious yawning begins in children around the age of 4-5,and this is when empathetic behavior, along with the ability to identifying emotions, begin to develop.

兒童在4-5歲的時(shí)候開(kāi)始被哈欠傳染，同一時(shí)期，同情性行為，以及辨識(shí)情緒的能力開(kāi)始逐漸發(fā)育。

In fact, children with empathy related disorders, such as autism, yawn less and response to videos of people yawning comparing to other children.

事實(shí)上，患有與共情相關(guān)疾病的兒童，如自閉癥，在觀(guān)看打哈欠視頻的時(shí)候，比其他孩子打哈欠更少。

Research also suggest that you are more likely to copy the yawn of someone socially or genetically close to you.

研究表明，當(dāng)身邊有親人或者朋友打哈欠時(shí)，你更容易被傳染。

Even dogs are more likely to copy the yawns of their owner as opposed to the yawn of a stranger.

甚至狗相對(duì)于陌生人，更容易受主人哈欠的傳染。

Finally, mirror neurons also play a role.

最后，鏡像神經(jīng)元對(duì)此也有功勞。

In our brain, mirror neuron fire when we perform a specific action view someone else doing the action, or even just hear someone talk about the action.

在我們大腦內(nèi)，鏡像神經(jīng)元會(huì)在我們看到他人做出特定動(dòng)作時(shí)產(chǎn)生沖動(dòng)，甚至僅在聽(tīng)別人說(shuō)到動(dòng)作時(shí)也會(huì)。

They are important brain cells that are used for learning, self-awareness and relating to others.

它們是重要的腦神經(jīng)細(xì)胞，作用于學(xué)習(xí)自我意識(shí)，以及于他人相處。

When we view someone else yawn, the mirror neurons in our brain become activated in a similar way and as a result we copy the yawn.

當(dāng)我們看到其他人打哈欠時(shí)，大腦內(nèi)的鏡像神經(jīng)元進(jìn)入類(lèi)似的活躍狀態(tài)，使得我們被傳染 打了哈欠。

So although yawning may occur in people who are literally hot-headed, contagious yawning allows us to be cool with the people around us.

因此，頭腦發(fā)熱的人可能會(huì)打哈欠，傳染性的哈欠也是讓我們與周?chē)娜死潇o相處。