Fetuses yawn in the uterus
A team of researchers from the universities of Durham and Lancaster (United Kingdom) suggests that fetuses yawn within the uterus, a process of development that could give doctors another index of health.
While some experts have suggested that fetuses yawn and others claim that it is simply the mouth opening, this study clearly distinguishes yawning, non-yawning or open mouth, focusing on the duration of the opening of the mouth.
The researchers analyzed the 4D video sequences of 15 healthy fetuses (eight female and seven male) from 24 to 36 weeks of gestation to closely examine all the events in a stretch of foot-and-mouth disease in the fetus and found that more than half of The mouth openings observed were yawning, as published on Wednesday the magazine 'Plos One'. The yawning was reduced from the 28 weeks and there were no significant differences between boys and girls in the yawning frequency.
Although the role and importance of yawning is still unknown, the findings of the study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), suggest that yawning may be related to the development of the fetus and as such could be one more indication for doctor about the health of the baby.
"Our longitudinal study shows that yawning decreases with increasing fetal age, unlike us, fetuses do not yawn by contagion or sleep, but the frequency of yawns in the uterus may be related to the early maturation of the brain. gestation, "Nadja Reissland, Department of Durham University of Psychology.
Thus, Reissland concluded that taking into account that the frequency of yawns in the sample of healthy fetuses was reduced from 28 weeks to 36 weeks of gestation, it seems that yawning and mouth opening are related to the maturation of pregnancy, for example of the central nervous system