Dogs catch human yawns Export

@article{citeulike:3101933, abstract = {This study is the first to demonstrate that human yawns are possibly contagious to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Twenty-nine dogs observed a human yawning or making control mouth movements. Twenty-one dogs yawned when they observed a human yawning, but control mouth movements did not elicit yawning from any of them. The presence of contagious yawning in dogs suggests that this phenomenon is not specific to primate species and may indicate that dogs possess the capacity for a rudimentary form of empathy. Since yawning is known to modulate the levels of arousal, yawn contagion may help coordinate dog-human interaction and communication. Understanding the mechanism as well as the function of contagious yawning between humans and dogs requires more detailed investigation.}, author = {Joly-Mascheroni, Ramiro M. and Senju, Atsushi and Shepherd, Alex J.}, citeulike-article-id = {3101933}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0333}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/5/446.abstract}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/5/446.full.pdf}, doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2008.0333}, journal = {Biology Letters}, keywords = {dogs, empathy, yawning}, posted-at = {2009-06-11 14:47:57}, priority = {0}, title = {Dogs catch human yawns}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0333} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3101933 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3101933 N2 - This study is the first to demonstrate that human yawns are possibly contagious to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Twenty-nine dogs observed a human yawning or making control mouth movements. Twenty-one dogs yawned when they observed a human yawning, but control mouth movements did not elicit yawning from any of them. The presence of contagious yawning in dogs suggests that this phenomenon is not specific to primate species and may indicate that dogs possess the capacity for a rudimentary form of empathy. Since yawning is known to modulate the levels of arousal, yawn contagion may help coordinate dog-human interaction and communication. Understanding the mechanism as well as the function of contagious yawning between humans and dogs requires more detailed investigation. JF - Biology Letters TI - Dogs catch human yawns KW - dogs KW - empathy KW - yawning AU - Joly-Mascheroni, Ramiro AU - Senju, Atsushi AU - Shepherd, Alex UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0333 ER -