Halmos 2018 Alumna Lead Author of Peer Reviewed Research Paper

This April, the journal of Physiology and Behavior published the article, “Manipulating Neck Temperature Alters Contagious Yawning in Humans”. The lead author is class of 2018 undergraduate biology major Valentina Ramirez. Her mentor was Halmos College faculty member Omar Eldakar, Ph.D.

The study investigated the thermoregulatory theory of yawning, which is essentially that yawns serve to cool the brain. Valentina and her collaborators tested this hypothesis by altering neck temperature above the carotid arteries with therapeutic packs which in turn influenced brain temperature and therefore the expression of yawning. The researchers found that yawning behavior followed predicted patterns with increased yawning when the brain was warmed, and decreased when the brain was cooled. Thermal imaging confirmed the application of therapeutic packs influenced the temperature of the superomedial orbital area, a region previously used as a noninvasive measure of brain temperature. These findings provide further support for a thermoregulatory function to yawning.

Valentina is now a first-year medical student with the U.S. Navy. Congratulations to Valentina for her impressive achievement, and to Omar Eldakar, Ph.D for his mentorship.