Platek Steven M, Mohamed Feroze B, Gallup Gordon G
Department of Psychology, Drexel University, 1505 Race Street, Mail Stop 626, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2005 May;23(2-3):448-52. doi: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.11.011. Epub 2005 Jan 26.
Contagious yawning, the onset of a yawn triggered by seeing, hearing, reading, or thinking about another person yawn is a well-documented phenomenon. The mechanisms that drive contagious yawning are as yet unknown, but there is recent evidence of a link between contagious yawning and self-processing (S.M. Platek, S.R. Critton, T.E. Myers, G.G. Gallup Jr., Contagious yawning: the role of self-awareness and mental state attribution, Cogn. Brain Res. 17 (2003) 223-227.) that is negatively impacted by schizotypal personality traits. The neural substrates involved in contagious yawning, however, are unknown. Here, using fMRI, we show that viewing someone yawn evokes unique neural activity in the posterior cingulate and precuneus. Because of the role these areas play in self-processing (e.g., self-referential processing, theory of mind, autobiographical memory), our findings provide further support for the hypothesis that contagious yawning may be part of a neural network involved in empathy.
传染性打哈欠，即看到、听到、读到或想到他人打哈欠而引发自己打哈欠，是一种有充分记录的现象。引发传染性打哈欠的机制目前尚不清楚，但最近有证据表明，传染性打哈欠与自我加工之间存在联系（S.M. 普拉泰克、S.R. 克里顿、T.E. 迈尔斯、G.G. 盖洛普 Jr.，《传染性打哈欠：自我意识和心理状态归因的作用》，《认知脑研究》17 (2003) 223 - 227），而这种联系会受到分裂型人格特质的负面影响。然而，参与传染性打哈欠的神经基质尚不清楚。在此，我们使用功能磁共振成像显示，观看他人打哈欠会在后扣带回和楔前叶引发独特的神经活动。由于这些区域在自我加工中所起的作用（例如自我参照加工、心理理论、自传体记忆），我们的研究结果为以下假说提供了进一步支持，即传染性打哈欠可能是参与共情的神经网络的一部分。
