25 December,2012 12:40 PM IST | | Agencies
Scientists have claimed at the first International Conference on Yawning held in Paris that the act can actually demonstrate a range of emotions, including interest, stress and even wanting to have sex.
However, they are not yet able to differentiate between a yawn that signifies erotic arousal and simply the need to catch some sleep, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Much about yawning remains a mystery, despite the fact that the average person yawns 240,000 times in a lifetime. Scientists still don't know exactly why we do it but - though it is certain that the favourite theory that it provides extra oxygen to the brain is completely wrong.
Wolter Seuntjens, a Dutch academic who is a pioneer in chasmology (the science of yawn studies) was quoted as saying, "We can send a man to the Moon but we cannot explain this most trivial of acts."
The concept of the erotic yawn was created after Seuntjens noted that many sexologists were consulted by people who yawned during sex or foreplay.
