# yawning question



## Johnpe123 (May 10, 2003)

Hey , my p's sometimes open their mouths alot like big yawns i was wondering if thats cuz there wasn't enough O2 in there.... how do i add more? i have a power head with boubles , wuts the point of bubble walls , bubble wands do they add more o2 to the tank?


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## GARGOYLE (Feb 12, 2003)

they yawn cause they tired, time to go night night. As of what I know, which is very little, this is common. Every once in a while, they tend to yawn. If they are doin it all the time, then that might be a problem.


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

tired and bored of their owners j/k. Its common, i believe they are the same reasons why we would yawn.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Found this artical a couple of weeks ago. It is why all invertibrates yawn.

Provine says "we YAWN when we're changing states of activity. Going from sleep to wakefulness, like YAWNING in the morning. Or wakefulness to sleep." (He says we YAWN more in the morning when we wake up, by the way.)
"Concert pianists will YAWN before going out to an important performance. Olympic athletes YAWN before the big event. Embryos begin YAWNING eleven weeks after conception," Provine notes. He says YAWNING is somehow connected to changing levels of body activity, changes from one state to another, like inactive to active or vice versa, but nobody understands just what the connection is.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

heres a handy link


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## Petzl88 (Feb 5, 2003)

If I remember correctly, when they yawn it sends a rush of water through their gills to clean out parasites and debris.

Correct me if I am wrong.


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## Petzl88 (Feb 5, 2003)

I just looked at the link Innes. Thanks.


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## Glowin_Navi (Apr 21, 2003)

Raptor said:


> "Concert pianists will YAWN before going out to an important performance. Olympic athletes YAWN before the big event. Embryos begin YAWNING eleven weeks after conception," Provine notes. He says YAWNING is somehow connected to changing levels of body activity, changes from one state to another, like inactive to active or vice versa, but nobody understands just what the connection is.


 Wow that makes sense, i would always yawn a couple times before my basketballs games. 
And im convinced yawns are contagious. IM yawning rite now just reading your posts about yawning.


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## elongatus (Feb 6, 2003)

A Piraya yawning and smiling.


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

cool pics E.








yeah the yawns must be contageous.... well I am work anyways







so...


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## piranha 13 (Feb 16, 2003)

LOL piraya smiling HaHaHa


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## GARGOYLE (Feb 12, 2003)

damn it, I yawned like 5 times reading this thread. But I do believe innes yawns right before he hits the PW mood, as well as the light bulb going off keeping him from posting relevant posts. HAHA spammer!


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## imachode (Jun 3, 2003)

:::warning::: boring technical explanation ahead









i am now in my second year of schooling for my BS in respiratory care. we've learned all about lung anatomy and physiology (as one would imagine) and that there are very good reasons for yawning. the volume we breathe during normal relaxed condition is known as a "tidal volume". as this tidal volume gets smaller for whatever reason (ie.exhaustion, or even pain from a broken rib or surgery) some of our alveoli actually collapse which decreases the amount of oxygen that diffuses into our blood. now there are receptors in our body that respond to this lower level of oxygen by stimulating a significantly larger breath followed by a breath hold. the purpose of this is two fold, first is to literally pop open the collapsed alveoli with the larger volume and breath hold (which allows pressures to equilibrate throughout the lung). secondly, to stimulate the release of a substance konwn as "surfactant" that decreases water tension in the lung to help avoid further collapse of the alveoli. so if this yawn successfuly recruits those closed alveoli, then your blood oxygen level will rise helping you feel more refreshed and able to do whatever you need to do.

as far as for fish..... i would assume similar reasons would apply if indeed the "yawn" causes an increased flow of water. the more water that runs through the gills would allow for more gas exchange, in turn raising the blood oxygen level.

hope atleast 1 person read this. ahah


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

imachode said:


> :::warning::: boring technical explanation ahead
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Sounds like a very good answer to me.


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## Ms_Nattereri (Jan 11, 2003)

Innes said:


> heres a handy link


 You beat me to it Innes...


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

GARGOYLE said:


> damn it, I yawned like 5 times reading this thread. But I do believe innes yawns right before he hits the PW mood, as well as the light bulb going off keeping him from posting relevant posts. HAHA spammer!


 why aru calling me a spammer?

I posted a handy link to a related topic on yawning, which has another handy link to another yawning thread inside it - so I just hooked you up to all of the past yawning threads on PFury - how is that spamming?


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## alvin (Jan 2, 2003)

I read it choda-boy. Makes perfect sense. I yawn a lot due to real bad asthma, not the exercise induced crap. I wake up often and have to have my g/f beat on my back to loosen it up, after that I sound like a chronic smoker for a couple of minutes, and then comes the yawning. I always wondered why I did that. I also used to do it before football/wrestling/track, so the change in activity thing makes sense too. Thanks guys, I learned something new.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> imachode Posted on Jun 15 2003, 09:56 AM
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *:::warning::: boring technical explanation ahead* ......as far as for fish..... i would assume similar reasons would apply if indeed the "yawn" causes an increased flow of water. the more water that runs through the gills would allow for more gas exchange, in turn raising the blood oxygen level.


Not quite boring.....the following is boring and might even even produce a yawn







. But disputes your opinion on the gas exchange via the gills:

Effects of yawning and related activities on skin conductances and hearte rate

Monica Greco and Ronald Baenninger 
Department of psychology and biology, Temple University, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Until recently, the function of yawning has been the subject of very little empirical research, but there has been no dearth of speculation. The most widely held hypothesis is that yawning serves as a form of respiration induced by high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. Barbizet surveyed the existing literature on yawning and found no evidence for this view. *The fact that fish yawn also makes the respiration hypothesis less tenable. Lehman pointed out that yawning is unlikely to increase oxygen levels because the deep inspiration is normally followed by a period of apnea.* 
The strongest evidence against a simple respiration hypothesis was provided by Provine, Tate and Geldmacher who systematically varied carbon dioxide levels in compressed air that human subjects were breathing. They found that increasing the percentage of carbon dioxide did not cause the subjects, to yawn more, but did increase their rate of breathing; when their subjects breathed 100% oxygen their rate of yawning did not change.

We hypothesized that yawning is likely in situations where arousal is low, but in which there is some reason to remain awake and alert. The function of yawning would be to increase arousal when the environment provides inadequate stimulation, but where the consequences of low arousal could be hazardous. One implication of our hypothesis is that organisms in unstimulating or boring environments should yawn in anticipation of important events, a prediction previously confirmed.

When human subjects are alone they are accurate in reporting their own yawns, and their rate of yawning is dramatically higher than in the presence of an observer. In the present study, we used self-reported yawns to examine effects of yawning on galvanic skin response (skin conductance) and heart rate, two widely-used correlates of arousal.

Method

Subjects : A total of 50 male and female undergraduate psychology students served as subjects.

Apparatus : Data were recorded using HRM Biofeedback Microlab software with appropriately attached sensors for skin conductance (SC), electromyogram (EMG), and heart rate (HR). These measures were portrayed before, during. and after each yawn.

Procedure : Subjects in the Yawn group participated in three separate trials, each of which lasted 15 minutes. In each trial, the subject was seated alone in a room and recorded his or her own yawns on an Esterline Angus recorder while GSR, HR, or EMG was recorded (in counterbalanced order) for 15 min by equipment in an adjacent room. Electromyogram was recorded using electrodes on the subject's masseter muscle and was used to verify that they vere actually yawning when they so indicated, and that movement artefacts were not producing any spurious changes; skin conductance was recorded by electrodes on the fingertips, and heart rate was recorded using a gel-free sensor clipped to the ear.

Subjects were told that they were participating in a study concerning the physiological correlates of yawning. They were instructed to relax, to think about yawning, and to depress the button in front of them when they began to yawn, keeping it depressed until the yawn was finished. After a 3-min baseline reading was taken, subjects recorded their yawns for 12 min for each trial.

Subjects in the Control group each participated in two 15-min trials. In one trial they were instructed to take deep breaths and in the other trial they were instructed to open their mouths wide while breathing normally through the nose. Skin conductance and heart rate were recorded in different trial segments.

Results

Experimental Group Data : Of the 30 subjects in the Yawn group, 24 emitted at least one yawn for a total of 418 yawns, a rate of 18.58 yawns/person-hour, considerably higher than most rates reported by Baenninger. The mean number of yawns emitted by a subject in a 15-min trial was 4.59, with a mean duration of 6.53 seconds. The skin conductance measure increased in all 21 subjects who yawned at least once. A Friedman ANOVA performed on the first yawn emitted by subjects showed a significant difference between the mean pre-, during, and postyawn skin conductance values (Fr= 14.90, p<0.01). Post hoc analysis indicated that the mean during and postyawn conductance values were significantly higher than the mean preyawn values. This pattern was consistent for the conductance data from the second yawns as well (Fr= 11.54, p<0.01). By the third yawns, only the postyawn conductance was higher than the preyawn value (Fr=7.09, p<0.05), and by the last yawn given by subjects, the three conductance values were not significantly different from each other. But there was a clear increase in the summed conductance values between the first and last yawns (sign test, p<0.01), indicating that successive yawns were accompanied by increased arousal. Thus the pattern of skin changes both within and between yawns showed some changes over successive yawns.

During the 15-min heart rate (HR) trial, 20 subjects yawned at least once, A Friedman ANOVA performed on their first yawns indicated that there were no significant changes in heart rate during the course of a yawn. This lack of effect was also true for the second, third, and fourth yawns emitted during the HR trial; no effects became apparent over successive yawns, from first to last yawns.

During the electromyogram (EMG) trial, 22 subjects emitted at least one yawn. The EMG values during and after yawns were significantly higher than the mean preyawn EMG value (Fr=33.09, p<0.01).

Control Data : In both the first and second mouth opening, the mean conductance values during and after were higher than the conductance value before opening the mouth, indicating an increase in arousal associated with opening the mouth (F,=9.10, p<0.05; F,=9.79, p<0.01, respectively). No differences were apparent by the third or final mouth opening.

Heart rate control data were also consistent with this pattern. There was a significant difference between the mean pre-, during. and postopen mouth values during the HR trial, but only for the first mouth opening (F,=9.70, p<0.01). Post hoc analysis indicated a decrease in HR as a result of wide opening of the mouth.

A Friedman ANOVA performed on the mean pre-, during and postbreathe skin conductance values indicated significant differences for all three deep breaths performed (F,=22.30, p<0.0 1; Fr = 12.48, p<0.0 1; F, = 13.58, p<0.0 1, respectively). Post hoc analysis showed that the postbreathing conductance values were increased. The HR values for the first deep breath performed also showed a significant difference between the three values (F,=9.10. p<0.05). Post hoc analysis revealed that the HR values belote and during a deep breath were higher than the postbreath HR value. There were no significant differences of these values for the second. or final deep breaths performed. The overall skin conductance and HR associated with the first mouth opening and deep breath did not differ froin the t%vo subsequent mouth openings and deep breaths.

Discussion : Some progress is being made in understanding hormonal and neurotransmitter mechanisms of yawning. The present study indicates that both yawning and two of its major components (opening the mouth and taking a deep breath) initially increased skin conductance, partially supporting our arousal hypothesis. Successive yawns accompanied progressively increased skin conductance only, and had only a slight cumulative effect on HR. Opening the mouth or taking a deep breath also was followed by skin conductance and HR changes consistent with increased arousal. Thus it appears that these two components of yawning might increase arousal at least as much as yawning itself


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

I would read this but I think I'll wait for the movie.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> Serrapygo Posted on Jun 16 2003, 11:12 PM
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> I would read this but I think I'll wait for the movie.


This is really the only part that is of any importance:

_The fact that fish yawn also makes the respiration hypothesis less tenable. Lehman pointed out that yawning is unlikely to increase oxygen levels because the deep inspiration is normally followed by a period of apnea.

The strongest evidence against a simple respiration hypothesis was provided by Provine, Tate and Geldmacher who systematically varied carbon dioxide levels in compressed air that human subjects were breathing. They found that increasing the percentage of carbon dioxide did not cause the subjects, to yawn more, but did increase their rate of breathing; when their subjects breathed 100% oxygen their rate of yawning did not change.

_

Basically goes back to what I originally wrote a long time ago, fish yawn for expulsion of debries, parasite irritation (to dislodge) and this newer research portion; _The present study indicates that both yawning and two of its major components (opening the mouth and taking a deep breath) initially increased skin conductance, partially supporting our arousal hypothesis._


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

Serrapygo said:


> I would read this but I think I'll wait for the movie.










..thanks frank ..give it two yawns up..

Basically goes back to what I originally wrote a long time ago, fish yawn for expulsion of debries, parasite irritation (to dislodge) and this newer research portion;


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

So is Dr provine wrong?


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

I think Provine, Tate and Geldmacher are on the right track. However, I don't know if they even considered host specific parasites in fishes like those found in piranas. Host specific parasites is a relatively new field where some are being found in nasal cavities (unheard of until now) and those found living in the gill rakers. Much like humans have bugs on their bodies that we are not aware of unless you have an electron microscope.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

True, Thanks frank.


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## piranha 13 (Feb 16, 2003)

I don't know what wrong with me. I always yawn when I read this thread.


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## MarcusK408 (May 18, 2003)

hastatus said:


> We hypothesized that yawning is likely in situations where arousal is low, but in which there is some reason to remain awake and alert. The function of yawning would be to increase arousal when the environment provides inadequate stimulation, but where the consequences of low arousal could be hazardous.


Does this mean the more I yawn, the more I'll turn myself on?


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## imachode (Jun 3, 2003)

hastatus said:


> This is really the only part that is of any importance:
> 
> _The fact that fish yawn also makes the respiration hypothesis less tenable. Lehman pointed out that yawning is unlikely to increase oxygen levels because the deep inspiration is normally followed by a period of apnea.
> 
> ...


sorry for the incredibly late reply, but i've been gone visiting family for a week. now this one is REALLY gonna be a bore







proceed with caution

anyway, i'm not saying that any of the information in that study is flat out wrong, infact, i agree with most of it. the problem is that what it is studying is a different aspect (for lack of a better word) than what i had mentioned in my earlier post.

in attempt to differentiate the two, i was explaining on a physiologic level of what happens in humans to stimulate a yawn (lower tidal volumes resulting in some alveoli collapse, therefore less oxygen diffusing over to the blood, and thus a lower blood oxygen level [aka PaO2...partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood]).

the study you quoted documents changes in skin conductance and heart rate that accompany a yawn. now out of ignorance, i can't speak about the changes in the skin but an increased heart rate makes perfect sense (with a lower PaO2, you have to increase cardiac output [i.e HRate] to maintain O2 delivery to tissue and prevent hypoxia).

a quote from the study that i do not agree with is this: "Lehman pointed out that yawning is unlikely to increase oxygen levels because the deep inspiration is normally followed by a period of apnea. "

this statement is just foolish. first, assuming that he is speaking about humans, the primary goal in yawning is to recruit collapsed alveoli, NOT to get in more air for that particular breath. following the recruitment manuver, you WILL see an increase in PaO2 _IF_ indeed the problem was collapsed alveoli and not a perfusion problem. secondly, "apnea" (fancy term for not breathing) is a very subjective term. how much time needs to pass before you can call it apnea? think about your average breaths, normal ratio of inhalation to exhalation in time is 1:3. inhalation makes up the time while you breathe in while exhalation includes the time you breath out _as well as_ the time your lungs are not moving air before the next inhalation. so is Lehman saying that we're constantly going in an out of apnea? and if so, what difference does it make to do the same after we yawn. periods of apnea are usually reported as " X seconds of apnea". there are many different manufacturers of mechanical ventilators, each one practically uses a different definition of apnea in seconds before it will kick into a back up apnea ventilation (usually 20-40 seconds). infact, many of these allow or even force you to define it yourself as there is not a specific time that will work with all patients across the board. think about when you yawn, do you stop breathing for say... 20 to 40 seconds? i would lean towards no. again, if Lehman was speaking about fish, then i'll politely shut up.

regarding the study in which Provine, Tate and Geldmacher varied amounts of CO2, that is just barking up the wrong tree. oxygenation and blowing off CO2 are two different processes. if we can now agree that yawning is a response to lower PaO2, what is the purpose of studying the response to increased CO2? if you have a high PaCO2 (partial pressure of CO2 in arterial blood), the physiologic response is just as they documented, increased rate. If a patient has an low pH due to high levels of CO2 in their blood (hydration reaction... CO2 + H20 = H2C03 = HC03- + H+ ), the first thing we do is assess their ventilatory status (ie. how much volume are they exhaling, usually in a given minute). if they can't maintain a normal exhaled volume in a minute by their own efforts, we will assist them with a machine (first none-invasively, then invasively if we are forced to) to normalize their pH. as we assess all this, we note what their oxygenation status is and manipulate it by increasing the amount of oxygen they inhale as needed, as well as not letting the patient completely exhale to atmospheric pressure. the idea behind this is that if you can some how restrict the alveoli from returning to atmospheric pressure by keeping in a small amount of positive pressure in them, then you can prevent further collapse of some alveoli. this is known as positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP). levels of set PEEP are important to re-assess and adjust following a recruitment manuver (ie.yawn). again, minute ventilation to control PaCO2, and inhaled O2 + PEEP to controll PaO2.

now, all this that i've said applies to humans, and i will fully stand behind it. obviously most of what i talked about was about lungs and alveoli.. and last time i had to clean out my catch i saw no lungs but gills. so as far as fish go, it is still my opinion that a fish yawn will increase flow of water through gills, facilitating in gas exhange sheerly driven by differences in pressure gradients between water and blood in the gills. now as far as if their skin conductance or heart rate changes while they yawn.. well great if it does, how does it change anything. and your ideas about yawning to dislodge debris and parasites sounds fantastic to me as well.

i guess the whole point of this post is that the study you quoted does not disprove anything about what i said. i hope you don't take offense to anything i said as it is most definately not my intention to do so. only trying to further discussion. :smile:


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## imachode (Jun 3, 2003)

alvin said:


> I read it choda-boy. Makes perfect sense. I yawn a lot due to real bad asthma, not the exercise induced crap. I wake up often and have to have my g/f beat on my back to loosen it up, after that I sound like a chronic smoker for a couple of minutes, and then comes the yawning. I always wondered why I did that. I also used to do it before football/wrestling/track, so the change in activity thing makes sense too. Thanks guys, I learned something new.


 not to say that your feelings are not genuine, because who am i to say so.. you're the one feeling it, right?

but if you have a completely pure asthma, then there usually should be no secretions (ie. loogies). i know you didn't mention secretions, but usually that's what beating on the back is for... infact, in clinic we have the nerve to call it "chest physiotherapy".

anyhoo, i would assume that if you have chronic acute asthma, you're taking steroids for long term control (maybe serevent?) of your asthma. since asthma is mostly a problem with inflammation of the tissues in your airways (ie. swelling, thus causing narrowing...think allergies) the steroids help as they are anti-inflamatory agents. so since your airways during an attack are narrow and restricted, airflow has trouble getting OUT, not IN (think about negative and positive pressures in your lung). so often times asthmatics end up taking fast shallow breaths to control their CO2 and get some air in for oxygenation. remember that shallow breaths can result in collapse of alveoli, and a lower blood oxygen level, and again stimulating a yawn.

just wanted to relate how asthma and yawns could maybe go together.

and just FYI, if you are having an attack, don't take your steroids to treat it... they don't take effect for like 6-12 hours depending... they're only for long term control. you need a fast acting bronchodilators such as albuterol or ipratroprium bromide. felt like i had to mention that as i would guess that you have both. goodluck with your asthma from a fellow asthmatic!


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