Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings

Liang, Amy; Grace, Jacquelyn K.; Tompkins, Emily M.; Anderson, David J.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.11.029

Cited by 25 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Both Lemur catta and Propithecus verreauxi yawned within 10 minutes of exposure to a disturbing event (Prediction 3 supported). This finding contrasts with literature on non‐primates showing a 20–40 min delayed yawning response to stressful stimuli, such as isolation [ Sula granti , Liang et al, ], confinement and handling [ Melopsittacus undulatus; Miller et al, ] and electric shocks [ Rattus norvegicus ; Moyaho & Valencia, ]. In these studies, the delayed response is explained through the Arousal Reduction Hypothesis , predicting that yawning is elicited by arousal reduction, when the animal starts relaxing.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

“…We started a PD all occurrences observation on yawning, lasting 60 min on the study subject, if one of the previously described disturbing conditions was satisfied. The few available studies [ Rattus norvegicus ; Moyaho & Valencia, ; Melopsittacus undulatus; Miller et al, ; Sula granti , Liang et al, ] showed that the yawning response to stressful stimuli does not necessarily increase in the first 10 min but it can increase after 20 and/or 40 min. Therefore, the 1‐hour PD observation considered in this study was divided into 3 blocks (0–10 min, 10–20 min, 20–60 min).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yawning may also be affected by stressful environmental and socially stressful stimuli [Liang et al, ; Schino et al, ]. Laboratory studies on birds and mammals showed that yawning frequency initially decreases or remains unchanged in the first 20‐min following a stressful event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Testing yawning hypotheses in wild populations of two strepsirrhine species: Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta

Zannella

Norscia

Stanyon

et al. 2015

American J Primatol

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Yawning, although easily recognized, is difficult to explain. Traditional explanations stressed physiological mechanisms, but more recently, behavioral processes have received increasing attention. This is the first study to test a range of hypotheses on yawning in wild primate populations. We studied two sympatric strepsirrhine species, Lemur catta, and Propithecus verreauxi, of the Ankoba forest (24.99°S, 46.29°E, Berenty reserve) in southern Madagascar. Sexual dimorphism is lacking in both species. However, their differences in ecological and behavioral characteristics facilitate comparative tests of hypotheses on yawning. Our results show that within each species males and females yawned with similar frequencies supporting the Dimorphism Hypothesis, which predicts that low sexual dimorphism leads to little inter-sexual differences in yawning. In support of the State Changing Hypothesis yawning frequencies was linked to the sleep-wake cycle and punctuated transitions from one behavior to another. Accordingly, yawning frequencies were significantly higher in L. catta than in P. verreauxi, because L. catta has a higher basal level of activity and consequently a higher number of behavioral transitions. In agreement with the Anxiety Hypothesis, yawning increased significantly in the 10 min following predatory attacks or aggression. Our findings provide the first empirical evidence of a direct connection between anxiety and yawning in lemurs. Our results show that yawning in these two strepsirrhines occurs in different contexts, but more research will be necessary to determine if yawns are a single, unitary behavior.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing yawning hypotheses in wild populations of two strepsirrhine species: Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta

Zannella

Norscia

Stanyon

et al. 2015

American J Primatol

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“…This is in agreement, with results showing that administration of anxiogenic drugs to monkeys induces both anxiety-like behavior and yawning [ 25 ], suggesting that indeed yawning is indicative of elevated stress levels. It has been hypothesized that in addition to being a marker of arousal, yawning marks the transition between different types of arousal or levels of arousal [ 28 ]. Perhaps then, yawning in Observers indicates a change in the type of arousal the Observers experience during the first testing days compared to the arousal in the last testing days.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated Witnessing of Conspecifics in Pain: Effects on Emotional Contagion

et al. 2015

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Witnessing of conspecifics in pain has been shown to elicit socially triggered freezing in rodents. It is unknown how robust this response is to repeated exposure to a cage-mate experiencing painful stimulation. To address this question, shock-experienced Observer rats repeatedly witnessed familiar Demonstrators receive painful footshocks (six sessions). Results confirm that Observers freeze during the first testing session. The occurrence of this behaviour however gradually diminished as the experimental sessions progressed, reaching minimal freezing levels by the end of the experiments. In contrast, the appearance and continuous increase in the frequency of yawning, a behavior that was inhibited by metyrapone (i.e,. a glucocorticoid synthesis blocker), might represent an alternative coping strategy, suggesting that the observer’s reduced freezing does not necessarily indicate a disappearance in the affective response to the Demonstrator’s distress.

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“…Liang et al ( 2015 ) recently reported on the relationship between yawning and stress responses in a wild population of Nazca boobies ( Sula granti ) in the Galapagos. Their analysis covered two separate investigations: a human capture-restraint stressor applied to adult boobies, and observations of nestlings maltreated by Non-parental Adult Visitors (NAVs).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Commentary: Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings

Gallup

Clark

2015

Front. Psychol.

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Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings

Cited by 25 publications

References 39 publications

Testing yawning hypotheses in wild populations of two strepsirrhine species: Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta

Testing yawning hypotheses in wild populations of two strepsirrhine species: Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta

Repeated Witnessing of Conspecifics in Pain: Effects on Emotional Contagion

Commentary: Yawning, acute stressors, and arousal reduction in Nazca booby adults and nestlings

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