why does music sound like it speeds up when you yawn?

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-- why does music sound like it speeds up when you yawn?

Posted by Itchy on Dec-31-2002 05:03:

why does music sound like it speeds up when you yawn?

Posted by OLi_A on Dec-31-2002 05:34:

hmmm tried this and it sounded the same to me, speed wise
is it like when you yawn on a plane? does it clear a blocked or inhibited ear or something
does anyone know why we yawn at all? i seen on a tv show once that yawning is a method of cleaning your brain because it causes a type of liquid in your skull to flush out which might explain why we shed a tear sometimes when we yawn
hmmmm interesting stuff

Posted by DJ Dowlz on Dec-31-2002 07:37:

Firstly, I would disagree when you say it speeds up when you yawn - it sounds like its slowing down to me. It only speeds up when you finish yawning.

*DJ Dowlz puts on his med student's hat and comes up with this answer*

When you yawn, the music doesn't actually slow down, it just seems like that. This is because you associate speed with pitch (eg if you speed up a record, the pitch becomes higher).

What is happenening when you yawn, a pressure difference is created between the external auditory meatus and the middle ear. Since there is a pressure difference, the tympanic membrane cannot vibrate as easily (this is what happens in conditions such as otitis media = middle ear infection). This vibration is then transmitted through the malleus, incus and stapes bones (the smallest bones in your body) to the cochlea where the vibration is eventually picked up by 'hair' cells and transmitted to the auditory areas of your brain (via the vestibularcochlear nerve).

Anyways, since the vibration is slowed, the resulting information is (correctly) interpreted as a lower pitch (the pitch of a sound is related to what its frequency is). You (incorrectly) assume when you hear the change in pitch that the sound has slowed down (as this typically is the case when you hear the same song change pitch). Thus you incorrectly perceive that the music has slowed down, when really, all that has happened is the pitch of the music has changed.

OLi_A, I think we yawn to remove excess carbon dioxide form our lungs. Hence why we yawn a lot when we are tired.

*DJ Dowlz puts on his DJs hat and goes and listens to some ASOT*

Posted by escee on Jan-01-2003 04:19:

obligatory prog makes you yawn comment.

Nice explanation dowlz.

Posted by SQ-K on Jan-01-2003 14:24:

ooo, a med student! Dowlz, I got this... thing... on my... you know...

Wanna come have a look at it for me?

Posted by webmeister on Jan-02-2003 01:09:

Yeah and I've got a bit of a rash you could take a look at

Posted by Philby on Jan-02-2003 05:54:

hehe yeah its funny how it sounds wierd when you yawn! sometimes i reckon it sounds better! but fuck once when i yawned last night, the music hurt my ears!!!! argh!!! i was like wtf?????