Chewing gum will help speed up the brain
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Since the invention of chewing gum (the second half of the 19th century), its use in society was considered a bad form and a sign of bad manners. Japanese scientists recently concluded that, despite the stereotype, chewing gum has a positive effect on thinking and the speed of human reaction. Employees of the institute, specializing in radio engineering, assure that the chewing gum can affect the work of the brain.
A study conducted by Japanese scientists showed that people who regularly chew gum become more concentrated and respond much more quickly to external stimuli than those who ignore such a popular product in our time. The experiment consisted in the fact that the researchers divided about 200 volunteers into two equal groups and conducted a thirty-minute test, which included both issues that determine memory and intellectual level, and tasks for the reaction rate. The first group was tested without chewing gum, the second - chewed gum during the whole experiment. By the way, gum was used for research without flavor additives and flavors.
During the testing, participants had to answer questions identical to questions from different IQ tests, memorize columns of numbers, letters and quickly respond to commands that appeared on the screen for only a few seconds. Volunteers had to respond as quickly as possible to the commands and press the right buttons with their thumbs. During the whole experiment, the brain activity of participants in both groups was monitored by tomographs, and after the experiment was over, a thorough analysis of the data was carried out.
The results of the experiment showed that the results of those people who chewed gum during the test were an order of magnitude better: they reacted more quickly to computer commands, more accurately answered questions. In order to make the right decision, participants with chewing gum took 490 milliseconds, and participants with an empty mouth - 510-517 milliseconds. The analysis of the scanner indices reported that the cognitive indices of participants in the two groups also differed. Level of concentration, vigilance, clarity of mind and memory power were significantly higher for those who used chewing gum during the experiment. Scientists believe that this pattern may be due to the fact that during prolonged chewing in the human brain receives more oxygen, which affects the speed of reaction and thought processes.
Also, scientists reported that during the chewing process the level of arousal of a person increases, which affects attention and vigilance. The head of the study assumes that the effect of chewing gum on the attentiveness and assimilation of new information will interest managers of companies with a large number of employees. Despite the visible benefits of chewing gum, doctors do not recommend chewing it on an empty stomach, as this can provoke stomach diseases, namely - gastritis or even ulcer.
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