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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / October 2006Rat Yawns
Hi All Ok this is a little weird to explain but bear with me. On UK BBC Radio Five Live, from 03:00 to 04:00 on Thursday mornings, listeners can ask science questions to Doctor Karl, an Australian scientist (http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/). A while ago someone asked a question about yawning and Dr Karl said something about male rat yawns. It was either that the buck had an erection or had an orgasm I forget which. I immediately wanted to know the reference source but then it slipped my mind. Ok, I rolled over and went to sleep :-) The other week yawning came up again. Someone asked why one dog yawning set off other dogs but a human yawning is ignored by the dogs and again Dr Karl brought up male rat yawning. Unfortunately my mobile was dead so I couldn't text in and ask for the source. A short while ago, when I realised Dr Karl was on, I sent in a text and asked for the source of the yawning information but atm Dr Karl cannot cite his reference, I am to contact the show next week. Dr Karl also clarified his comment and stated that when male rats yawn they have an erection. Now I've had bucks since November 1995 and I've seen loads of buck yawns but I have never seen a yawning buck have an erection, but then again until a short while ago I wasn't really watching. Can anyone shed any light on this because I'd like to have back up from ratters I trust in case I need to disagree. MTIA  SignatureRatty Hugs & Cavy Kisses Jackie Ably Hindered by The Buck House Crew: Zwart, Schwarz, Zydrundas, Spikkle, FortyFiveDegrees, NinetySevenPercent, Kai, Daichi & Torin with Emory & Meron cavy. Rats At The Bridge: Pubpsy, Rex, Stripe, Hoody, Groucho, Brownie, Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Juniper, Ginger, Doyle, Bodie, Ebenezer, Obadiah, Alexander, Curtis, StuartLittle, Keel, Lysander, Bo, Isaiah, Malachi, Neziah, Whitham, Luke, Foret, Xaus, Melandri, Alzamora, Rossi, Quezovercoatl, Vizzimuth, Cecchinello, Chili, Vassenego, Ui, Khefin, Ysgafala, Titus, Nero, Hat, Orion, Marmeduke & Vasyl. Cavies At The Bridge: Brock, Heinz, Tudor, Teddy, Joseph & Nikolas. You'd be surprised but there is a lot of research done on rat erections and yawning. Not because scientists are rat pervies but because the brain mechanisms behind the two are linked. Basically, scientists know that oxytocin, a hormone involved in orgasm, labor and birth, breastfeeding is linked to the activity of nitric oxide synthase. Nitric oxide is a gas which functions as a signalling molecule in the brain. Many of the body's basic drives (eating, thirst, temperature regulation, etc) is controlled by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. It is known that when male rats are given oxytocin, this stimulates the hypothalamic regions (to be technical, it's likely in the paraventricular nucleus) to inducing yawning and erections, probably due to signalling by nitric oxide. Does this mean then that when male rats are horny, they yawn? or that they're bored with sex? LOL not necessarily. It just means that the neural mechanisms behind the two are the same, and will be triggered by the same chemical (oxytocin and nitric oxide). I wonder if it's the same in people too? Cause then next time somebody accidentally yawns during sex, they can just blame nitric oxide on the hypothalamus ;) PS: I knew my University degree would come in handy one day! And just to clarify: I'm not saying that everytime a rat yawns it will have an erection or vice versa - just that the physiology behind both are linked in the brain. The research probably indicates that there is a greater likelihood that everytime a male rat yawns, that he will have a chance of having an erection. (To be even more nerdy - it might depend on the dosage of oxytocin/nitric oxide found in the rat's brain. Perhaps higher amounts lead to both yawning and erections occurring at the same time. Hormonal levels change with the time of day, seasons and age so that might be one possibility. ) I have to say, this is the first I've ever heard of it and quite shocked that there is so much on the subject of yawns and erections in rats. I googled it... from what I can decipher from all the goobledygook, what controls the yawning is the same that controls the erection as well as many other functions. Rat's erections are huge. Their penis is quite long, I think we would have noticed if they had an erection each time they yawned. Rat.charmer, that was very interesting and much easier to understand the way you explain it. Thanks. Joanne Owned by 20 rats On Oct 25, 11:12 pm, "Jackie" <jackie_skidmore*Spam-Me-N...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi All > [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > Ysgafala, Titus, Nero, Hat, Orion, Marmeduke & Vasyl. > Cavies At The Bridge: Brock, Heinz, Tudor, Teddy, Joseph & Nikolas. I have never seen this topic discussed before, it is fascinating! Sorry, I cannot contribute. Or if you are feeling realy silly!!! COULD IT BE THAT THEY ARE TIRED!!!!!! SignatureJackie - <:_)~ and the Boys, Ronald, Scratch, Rupert and Wilbur, Toffee, Bonker and Chewy. http://community.webshots.com/user/mullins9 >I have never seen this topic discussed before, it is fascinating! > Sorry, I cannot contribute. |
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