|
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*
___________________
"To that guy, who asked me to sign this piece of paper saying that I’m number one… thumbs up to you man!!!" - Ferry Corsten
|
why does music sound like it speeds up when you yawn?
