Published
Pathological yawning as a presenting symptom of brain stem ischaemia in two patients
I was interested in the term you used, so I googled it. This article speaks of what you asked about. Apparently there is a relationship shown between yawning and brain injury. Hope this is informative for you, if not google it again. Happy New Year!
Abnormal yawning in stroke patients: the role of brain thermoregulation
That article suggests maybe it's a way of cooling the brain to preserve it. I was always told it's a sign of brain ischemia/herniation.
BeatsPerMinute, BSN, RN
398 Posts
I'm new to critical care and work in the cardiac ICU. My patient the other night was a vented elderly man showing minimal response. Pos gag/cough, neg babinksi, intermittent corneal's and response to pain; PERRLA; no response to voice. He recently started yawning occasionally, and when another nurse saw that she said, "well that's not good." I asked her what she meant, and she said that it was a "neuro yawn." She said she didn't know much, only that it meant that it was a bad sign, like it's another basic reflex that only shows up when a patient is or is nearly brain dead. Anyone able to explain this "neuro yawn" ?