Hand up! Yawn and Raise Your Arm

Walusinski, Olivier; Neau, Jean‐Philippe; Bogousslavsky, Julien

doi:10.1111/j.1747-4949.2009.00394.x

Cited by 33 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…This gave rise to considerable examination of strokes [23], and the proposition that the brain-stem may be acutely linked to the motor cortex [23,24]. The brain-stem comprises the pons, mid-brain, and medulla oblongata [25], and is responsible for respiratory functioning and cardiac regulation.…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypothesis to Explain Yawning, Cortisol Rise, Brain Cooling and Motor Cortex Involvement of Involuntary Arm Movement in Neurologically Impaired Patients

Thompson¹

2017

J Neurol Neurosci

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Association between the hormone cortisol and yawning has been found. The Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis proposed a link between yawning and rises in cortisol with further recent evidence from neuroscience showing communication between the motor cortex, brain-stem and hypothalamus. Hormonal and neuronal links form the proposed network that influences and also monitors cortisol and brain temperature regulation via the hypothalamus. Evidence supports the proposed connection between brain-stem, hypothalamus and motor cortex and further supports the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis suggesting threshold levels of cortisol elicit yawning to cool the brain. Additionally, this may explain the well-known observed phenomenon known as parakinesia brachialis oscitans in brain-stem ischaemic stroke patients during involuntary yawning.

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Section: Evaluation Of the Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypothesis to Explain Yawning, Cortisol Rise, Brain Cooling and Motor Cortex Involvement of Involuntary Arm Movement in Neurologically Impaired Patients

Thompson¹

2017

J Neurol Neurosci

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“…Clinical findings and imaging characteristics are summarized in Table 1. In none of the 10 patients, abnormal yawning was accompanied by pandiculations (stretching of trunk and extremities) or by parakinesia brachialis oscitans, a phenomenon whereby patients move their paralyzed extremities while yawning (Walusinski et al 2010). Symptom onset occurred during daytime in seven patients.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Patients who experienced abnormal yawning with supratentorial cerebral or brainstem infarctions have been consistently reported (Singer et al 2007;Cattaneo et al 2006;Chang et al 2008;Krasnianski et al 2003;Walusinski et al 2010). Some authors postulated a ''denervation hypersensitivity'' mechanism as cause of abnormal yawning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insular and caudate lesions release abnormal yawning in stroke patients

Krestel

Weisstanner

Hess

et al. 2013

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

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Abnormal yawning is an underappreciated phenomenon in patients with ischemic stroke. We aimed at identifying frequently affected core regions in the supratentorial brain of stroke patients with abnormal yawning and contributing to the anatomical network concept of yawning control. Ten patients with acute anterior circulation stroke and C3 yawns/15 min without obvious cause were analyzed. The NIH stroke scale (NIHSS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), symptom onset, period with abnormal yawning, blood oxygen saturation, glucose, body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and modified Rankin scale (mRS) were assessed for all patients. MRI lesion maps were segmented on diffusionweighted images, spatially normalized, and the extent of overlap between the different stroke patterns was determined. Correlations between the period with abnormal yawning and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the overlapping regions, total stroke volume, NIHSS and mRS were performed. Periods in which patients presented with episodes of abnormal yawning lasted on average for 58 h. Average GCS, NIHSS, and mRS scores were 12.6, 11.6, and 3.5, respectively. Clinical parameters were within normal limits. Ischemic brain lesions overlapped in nine out of ten patients: in seven patients in the insula and in seven in the caudate nucleus. The decrease of the ADC within the lesions correlated with the period with abnormal yawing (r = -0.76, Bonferroni-corrected p = 0.02). The stroke lesion intensity of the common overlapping regions in the insula and the caudate nucleus correlates with the period with abnormal yawning. The insula might be the long sought-after brain region for serotonin-mediated yawning.

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“…He noted that those with brain-stem lesions, had the capacity to raise their paralyzed arm when yawning [26]. This has since been evidenced by a number of other researchers (Walusinski, et al, Kang & Dhand) [27,28].…”

Section: Yawning and Cortisolmentioning

confidence: 90%