Very interesting study link between autism and yawning

[Guest guest]

Not only is the study interesting and easy enough for even a lay person to

note...but I find it comical and questionable why half of the adult population

is immune as well. As Double Rainbow Guy says " What does it mean? "

Toddlers immune to 'contagious' yawning: study

15 September 2010 - 07H24

AFP - Children under the age of four and kids with autism appear to be immune

from contagious yawning, the phenomenon where one person's yawn triggers a chain

reaction of open mouths, a study published Wednesday says.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut observed 120 typically developing

one- to six-year-olds and 30 six- to 15-year-olds with autism spectrum disorders

for the study, which was published in the journal Child Development.

They found that although babies yawn spontaneously even before they leave the

womb, most children show no signs of succumbing to contagious yawning until they

reach the age of four.

Kids with autism were less likely to yawn contagiously than typically developing

children with the same mental and chronological ages, and the more severe a

child's autism, the less likely he or she was to yawn contagiously, the study

also found.

" Given that contagious yawning may be a sign of empathy, this study suggests

that empathy and the mimicry that may underlie it develop slowly over the first

few years of life, and that children with autism spectrum disorders may miss

subtle cues that tie them emotionally to others, " the researchers said.

Among adults, meanwhile, contagious yawning is almost epidemic: half of

grown-ups do it, the study says

http://www.france24.com/en/20100915-toddlers-immune-contagious-yawning-study

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