Trial to investigate the maintenance effects of yawning on salivary cortisol levels

Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis: trial to investigate the maintenance effects of Yawning on salivary Cortisol levels - an observational study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN61942768

Enrollment

100

Registered

2012-04-26

Start date

2012-06-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2016-10-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Salivary cortisol levels Not Applicable

Interventions

Collection of saliva samples

collection of non-invasive surface-placed electrode data of electrical nerve impulses around jaw-line during yawning. Observing participants' yawning, their level of saliva cortisol before and after

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. 100 male and female volunteers aged between 18-65 years will be recruited from students at Bournemouth University using the computerised recruitment system (SONA), and Facebook 2. All participants will be properly consented according to code of conduct and research guidelines

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Chronic fatigue 2. Diabetes 3. Fibromyalgia 4. Heart condition 5. High blood pressure 6. Hormone replacement therapy 7. Multiple sclerosis 8. Stroke

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Salivary cortisol levels - collection of saliva deposited (spit into tube) by each participant into sample bottle at start of study then again immediately after yawning, or if no yawn elicited, at end of last stimuli presentation 2. Electrical nerve activity - non-invasive surface-placed electrodes around the jaw line receive data throughout the study (20 mins maximum), or only until yawning is elicited, whichever happens first	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Salivary cortisol levels - collection of saliva deposited (spit into tube) by each participant into sample bottle at start of study then again immediately after yawning, or if no yawn elicited, at end of last stimuli presentation 2. Electrical nerve activity - non-invasive surface-placed electrodes around the jaw line receive data throughout the study (20 mins maximum), or only until yawning is elicited, whichever happens first

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Demographic and descriptive details of participants age, gender, ethnicity	—

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 25, 2026