The Cognitive Benefits Of Chewing Gum

Why do people chew gum? If an anthropologist from Mars ever visited a typical supermarket, theyd
be confounded by those shelves near the checkout aisle that display dozens of flavored gum options.
Chewing without eating seems like such a ridiculous habit, the oral equivalent of running on a
treadmill. And yet, people have been chewing gum for thousands of years, ever since the ancient
Greeks began popping wads of mastic tree resin in their mouth to sweeten the breath. Socrates probably
chewed gum.
It turns out theres an excellent rationale for this long-standing cultural habit: Gum is an effective
booster of mental performance, conferring all sorts of benefits without any side effects. The latest
investigation of gum chewing comes from a team of psychologists at St. Lawrence University. The
experiment went like this: 159 students were given a battery of demanding cognitive tasks, such as
repeating random numbers backward and solving difficult logic puzzles. Half of the subjects chewed
gum (sugar-free and sugar-added) while the other half were given nothing. Heres where things get
peculiar: Those randomly assigned to the gum-chewing condition significantly outperformed those in
the control condition on five out of six tests. (The one exception was verbal fluency, in which subjects
were asked to name as many words as possible from a given category, such as animals.) The sugar
content of the gum had no effect on test performance.
While previous studies achieved similar results chewing gum is often a better test aid than caffeine
this latest research investigated the time course of the gum advantage. It turns out to be rather short
lived, as gum chewers only showed an increase in performance during the first 20 minutes of testing.
After that, they performed identically to non-chewers.
Whats responsible for this mental boost? Nobody really knows. It doesnt appear to depend on
glucose, since sugar-free gum generated the same benefits. Instead, the researchers propose that gum
enhances performance due to mastication-induced arousal. The act of chewing, in other words, wakes
us up, ensuring that we are fully focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, this boost is fleeting. The
takeaway of this research is straightforward: When taking a test, save the gum for the hardest part, or
for those questions when you feel your focus flagging. The gum will help you concentrate, but the help
wont last long.
This latest paper only adds to the impressive body of psychological literature on gum. Last month,
scientists at Coventry University found that people chewing mint gum showed a dramatic decrease in
feelings of sleepiness. The subjects also looked less exhausted when assessed with the Pupillographic
Sleepiness Test (PST), which uses the oscillations of the pupils as a metric of tiredness. When we chew
gum, we gain alertness and attention, but without the jitters.
And then theres this paper, from a researcher at Cardiff University. 133 volunteers were given
cognitive tests with and without chewing gum. (They were also randomly assigned gum flavors, treated
to a selection of fruits and mints.) Approximately half of the volunteers were tested while listening to a
screeching noise this was the stress condition while the other volunteers took the test in a quiet
room. After each testing session, the volunteers rated their mood and underwent a number of
physiological measurements, including heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. (Cortisol is a stress
hormone, but its also a good indicator of alertness.) As expected, gum chewers were more attentive
than non-chewers, with elevated heart rates and cortisol levels. They also had much faster reaction
times, especially on more difficult reaction tests. They even appeared to be in a better mood.
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Given the uncanny power of gum, it seems a little silly that we dont allow it in the classroom. (If a pill
achieved these same results, wed all be popping it.) Of course, gum is disgusting and unsightly once it
becomes litter, but it also appears to be a wonderful stimulant, allowing us to benefit from the
attentional boost of eating without having to swallow or ingest calories. (Plus, fresh breath!) A recent
review of the gum-chewing literature summarizes the science: Gum appears to be a functional food
with function but no food.
Photo: Flickr/world of jan
via bakadesuyo
PS. @ResearchDigest points out that another new paper on gum chewing that found chewing
decreased performance on tests of short-term memory that involve serial recall. Tapping with the hands
achieved the same results, suggesting that the rhythmic pulse of bodily movement might interfere with
the memorization of ordered lists.

Jonah Lehrer Science

Date of Publication: 11.29.11.
Time of Publication: 12:39 pm.

(Baddo, 2017)

Chewing gum helps you concentrate for longer,

study suggests
Date:
March 8, 2013
Source:
British Psychological Society (BPS)
Summary:
Chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer on tasks that require continuous monitoring.
Previous research has shown that chewing gum can improve concentration in visual memory
tasks. This study focused on the potential benefits of chewing gum during an audio memory task.

Chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer on tasks that require continuous monitoring.
Credit: nyul / Fotolia
Chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer on tasks that require continuous monitoring. This is
the finding of new research by Kate Morgan and colleagues from Cardiff University due to be
published in the British Journal of Psychology today, 8 March.
Previous research has shown that chewing gum can improve concentration in visual memory tasks.
This study focussed on the potential benefits of chewing gum during an audio memory task.
Kate Morgan, author of the study explained: "It's been well established by previous research that
chewing gum can benefit some areas of cognition. In our study we focussed on an audio task that
involved short-term memory recall to see if chewing gum would improve concentration; especially in
the latter stages of the task."
The study involved 38 participants being split in to two groups. Both groups completed a 30 minute
audio task that involved listening to a list of numbers from 1-9 being read out in a random manner.
Participants were scored on how accurately and quickly they were able to detect a sequence of odd-
even-odd numbers, such as 7-2-1. Participants also completed questionnaires on their mood both before
and after the task.
The results showed that participants who chewed gum had quicker reaction times and more accurate
results than the participants who didn't chew gum. This was especially the case towards the end of the
task.
Kate explained: "Interestingly participants who didn't chew gum performed slightly better at the
beginning of the task but were overtaken by the end. This suggests that chewing gum helps us focus on
tasks that require continuous monitoring over a longer amount of time."