打哈欠很可能是人类所有行为中最奇妙的一个，尤其是会传染这件事，简直是太引人入胜了。科学家们曾为打哈欠寻找了很多解释，比如大脑缺氧、疲劳、厌倦等，不过这往往是打呵欠发生时的特征，而非打呵欠的原因。去年年底的一项研究认为，打哈欠能帮助我们的大脑降温。人脑就像电脑一样，对温度非常敏感，必须保持凉爽才能有效运转。

What happens in the brain to make us 'catch' yawns

为什么打哈欠会传染？

You may well be yawning just reading this - it's contagious[1]. Now researchers have looked at what happens in our brains to trigger that response.

[1]contagious

(1)A contagious disease can be caught by touching someone who has the disease or a piece of infected clothing. （疾病）接触性传染的 

The infection is highly contagious, so don't let anyone else use your towel. 

这种传染病极易传染，所以不要让别人用你的毛巾。  

(2)A contagious person has a contagious disease. （人）患传染病的，带传染源的 

Keep him out of school until he's not contagious anymore. 

在他不再传染前，别让他上学了。  

(3)A contagious feeling spreads quickly among people. （情感）具有感染力的，蔓延的 

Fear is contagious. 恐惧是会传染的。

A University of Nottingham team found it occurs in a part of the brain responsible for motor function.

诺丁汉大学的研究小组发现它发生在大脑负责运动功能的部分。

The primary motor cortex[2] also plays a part in conditions such as Tourette's syndrome.

初级运动皮层也在图雷特氏综合症等疾病中起着重要作用。

[2]cortex: the outer layer, especially of the brain and other organs （尤指大脑或其他器官的）皮层，皮质 

the cerebral cortex 大脑皮层

So the scientists say understanding contagious yawning could also help understand those disorders too.

因此，科学家们说，了解传染性哈欠也有助于理解这些疾病。

Contagious yawning is a common form of echophenomena - the automatic imitation of someone else's words or actions.

传染性哈欠是一种常见的模仿行为，即自动模仿他人的言语或行为。

Echophenomena is also seen in Tourette's, as well as in other conditions, including epilepsy and autism.

在图雷特氏综合症以及其他疾病，包括癫痫和自闭症中，也出现了这一模仿现象。

To test what's happening in the brain during the phenomenon, scientists monitored 36 volunteers while they watched others yawning.

为了测试这一现象在大脑中发生的情况，科学家们监测了36名志愿者在看到其他人打哈欠时的反应。

In the study, published in the journal Current Biology, some were told it was fine to yawn while others were told to stifle the urge.

此项研究发表在《当代生物学》杂志上，在试验中一部分人被告知看到别人打哈欠后可以跟着打，而另一部分人则被告知要抑制这种欲望。

The urge to yawn was down to how each person's primary motor cortex worked - its "excitability".

打哈欠的冲动取决于个人主要运动皮层的特质—“兴奋性”。

And, using external transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), it was also possible to increase "excitability" in the motor cortex and therefore people's propensity[3] for contagious yawns.

采用外部经颅磁刺激(TMS)试验也有可能增加运动皮层的“兴奋性”，导致你会有传染性哈欠的欲望。

[3]propensity: （性格上的）倾向；习性 A propensity to do something or a propensity for something is a natural tendency that you have to behave in a particular way. 

Mr Bint has a propensity to put off decisions to the last minute.

宾特先生习惯拖到最后时刻才作决定。

Georgina Jackson, professor of cognitive neuropsychology who worked on the study, said the finding could have wider uses: "In Tourette's, if we could reduce the excitability we might reduce the ticks, and that's what we are working on."

参与这项研究的认知神经心理学教授乔治娜.杰克逊说，这一发现可能有更深层次的用途：“如果在治疗图雷特氏综合症时我们能够降低兴奋性，我们可能就会减少抽动，而这正是我们研究的目标。”

Prof Stephen Jackson, who also worked on the research, added: "If we can understand how alterations in cortical excitability give rise to neural disorders we can potentially reverse them.

斯蒂芬.杰克逊教授也参与了这项研究，他补充道:“如果我们能理解大脑皮层兴奋性的变化是如何引起神经紊乱的，我们就有可能逆转它们。”

We are looking for potential non-drug, personalised treatments, using TMS that might be effective in modulating imbalances in the brain networks.

“我们正在寻找潜在的非药物的个性化治疗，采用TMS方法就可能有效地调节大脑网络的不平衡状态。”

Dr Andrew Gallup, a psychologist at State University of New York at Albany, who has carried out research into the connection between empathy and yawning, said using TMS was a "novel approach" to the study of contagious yawning.

安德鲁.盖洛普博士是纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校的心理学家，他对共鸣和打哈欠之间的联系进行了研究，他说，使用TMS来研究是传染性哈欠一种“新奇的方法”。

He added: "We still know relatively little about why we yawn. Various studies have proposed links between contagious yawning and empathy, yet the research supporting this connection is mixed and inconsistent.

他补充道:“对于为什么打哈欠我们了解的还很少。”针对传染性哈欠和共鸣之间的联系开展了很多研究，但是目前说法不一。

"The current findings provide further evidence that yawn contagion may be unrelated to empathic processing."

“目前的研究结果进一步证明，打哈欠传染可能与共鸣无关。”

L君还在网上（http://t.cn/hGR41K）发现一段有趣的内容：

所谓的“哈欠传染”其实就是“哈欠模仿”。你是那种看到别人打哈欠、听到别人打哈欠、想到打哈欠这个动作，自己也容易被“传染”打哈欠的人吗？甚至你在看这篇文章的过程中，都已经打了好几个舒服的哈欠了？若答案肯定，那么恭喜你，你天生发达的镜像神经元赋予了你超强的语言习得潜力。同时，你比那些对别人的哈欠无动于衷的人，更容易成为朋友圈里的倾诉对象。多愁善感、易于产生共鸣、富有同情心是你的特质。陪哥们儿喝大酒、逗哏；陪姐妹掉眼泪、捧哏是你的天职。

果壳网也有关于“打哈欠会传染吗”的问答，有兴趣可以去看看哦http://t.cn/zORka4g

就在准备这篇推送的过程

L君打了十几个哈欠

可能是真的会传染

你呢？

译文来源（仅供参考)

http://t.cn/RNoH3Sn