美国国家公共电台 NPR Yawning May Promote Social Bonding Even Between Dogs And Humans

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

So obviously, teens aren't the only ones yawning. It's something everyone does - humans but also bears, bats, guinea pigs, giraffes. Yawning is common animal behavior. Here's reporter Michelle Trudeau. And no matter how interesting Michelle's story is, I dare you not to yawn during this story.

MICHELLE TRUDEAU, BYLINE¹: Let me introduce the father of yawn research.

ROBERT PROVINE: I'm Robert Provine, professor of psychology² and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

TRUDEAU: Provine has studied what he calls yawn science since the early 1980s, publishing dozens of research articles on it. Turns out, the simple yawn - not so simple.

PROVINE: There are many causes for yawning, such as boredom³, sleepiness.

TRUDEAU: Hunger, anxiety, stress - they all cause changes in brain chemistry which triggers a yawn. But, says Provine, there's still no consensus⁴ on the purpose of a yawn. One strong contender is that a yawn perks⁵ you up by increasing heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory function. It's a behavior...

PROVINE: It stirs up our physiology⁶, and it plays an important role in shifting from one state to another. For example, with violinists getting ready to go onto a stage play to play a concerto⁷...

TRUDEAU: They often yawn, as do some Olympians right after competition.

PROVINE: Paratroopers getting ready to do their first jump - they are also yawning.

TRUDEAU: But to Provine, the most intriguing⁸ aspect of yawning is that it's highly contagious⁹.

PROVINE: In fact, yawning is so contagious that anything having to do with it will trigger a contagious response - looking at yawns, hearing yawns, thinking about yawns or talking about yawns, as we're doing right now.

TRUDEAU: Contagious yawning may have evolved in early humans to boost social bonding, says Provine. A good group yawn perks everyone up to be more vigilant¹⁰ about danger.

PROVINE: When one person yawns and others yawn, this involves a neurologically programmed bonding of individuals.

TRUDEAU: The social bonding theory has some evidence. For example, you're more likely to yawn if the yawner is someone from your family versus¹¹ a stranger. And newborns - they yawn spontaneously, but they don't start to show contagious yawning until age 4 or so, around the same time they're becoming more socially connected. And one more finding - individuals with autism, a disorder¹² that has impaired¹³ social bonding - they have relatively¹⁴ little contagious yawning.

Now what about other animals? We know that all vertebrates - that's critters with backbones¹⁵ - they all yawn spontaneously, but very few yawn contagiously¹⁶.

PROVINE: Till the last few years now, the feeling was that contagious yawning was unique to humans.

TRUDEAU: But recently, two more species have been added to the list of contagious yawners.

PROVINE: Our cousins the chimpanzees as well as highly social mammals, such as dogs.

TRUDEAU: Provine suggests you do a little at-home experiment. Watch your dog when he yawns. Do you catch the yawn yourself? If so, that's a brilliant demonstration¹⁷ of contagious yawning between different species. For NPR News, I'm Michelle Trudeau.

(SOUNDBITE OF IMAGINED HERBAL FLOWS' "CLOUDS")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？

6 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

7 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

10 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

11 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

12 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

13 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 backbones   

n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物

参考例句：

• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？ 来自辞典例句
• Simply adding bandwidth to the Internet backbones is not an answer. 只是简单的在互联网骨架上增加带宽是应付不了的。 来自互联网

16 contagiously   

传染性地，蔓延地

参考例句：

• The book is unpretentious; it can present names without dropping them, and the tone is contagiously warm. 这本书写得朴实无华，它提了几个名字，但又没有滥用来抬高自己，而且书的语气热情洋溢。
• She was contagiously bubbly. 她快乐而富有感染力。

17 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。