The infamous question: Is yawning contagious? No, it’s not just a theory. But yes, it is a scientifically proven phenomenon. Some say that you yawn when someone yawns because they are reminding you of how sleepy or bored you are. But, that is scientifically proven wrong. Be prepared to get mind blown.
Scientists did an experiment on 11 healthy volunteers and had them watch videos. In these videos, they had pictures and short clips of humans yawning, laughing, or having neutral expressions. The scientists hooked up wires to their brain. It turns out that every time that they yawned or laughed, the inferior frontal gyrus lit up. The inferior frontal gyrus is an area in your brain known to be part of mirror neuron network which functions to help create mental representations of actions. On the other hand, the mirror system wasn’t being used when the volunteers responded to the videos.
There was another experiment done in Italy on 21 baboons. The scientists recorded from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. They recorded their natural feeding habits, how they slept, how many times they yawned, and even when they slept
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201403/why-is-yawning-so-contagious
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64654/why-are-yawns-contagious
Grover Middle School's Jagazine 