Is it true that the use of chewing gum worsens the perception of information?

From school, many of us are told that if you chew chewing gum during the lesson, you will learn the material worse. We decided to check if there is scientific confirmation of this belief.

Information that chewing gum worsens the perception of information can be found on sites dental clinic, V Blogs And Media. Explain This relationship is that “chewing movements affect the process, which is usually used to memorize some information”, and Also The fact that "blood rushes from the brain to chewing muscles and other organs of the maxillofacial region." Reported Also about the long -term negative consequences of such a habit: "Regular chewing chewing gum leads to a deterioration in short -term memory." Some resources even Related The use of chewing gum to those things that make us stupid, in the same list with iodine deficiency in the intrauterine period, bodily punishments in childhood and passive smoking.

The first chewing gum was Patented In 1869, American dentist William Finley Semlot. It consisted of rubber with the addition of chalk, wood coal and flavorings. However, humanity used to use various viscous substances for chewing. The oldest chewing gum is a piece of resin with teeth prints dating from the III millennium BC. e., was discovered In Finland, in the town of Kirikkikkikancagas. In addition to resin, ancient people Used Beeswax, rubber, as well as a mixture of leaves and seeds of plants with gashi lime. 

Scientists still study how chewing gum affects the condition of the teeth, the digestive system, the muscles of the face and jaws, as well as the mental and mental state of a person. Exists A lot research, demonstratingthat the use of chewing gum reduces The level of stress hormone is cortisol. No less studied the influence of the process of chewing on the perception of information and mental activity.

In 2012, scientists of the University of Cardiff under the leadership of Mikhail Kozlov Spent A series of experiments, during which they came to the conclusion that the use of chewing gum worsens short -term memory. At first, volunteers were offered vigorously chewing chewing gum for the experiment without taste and at the same time remember a sequence of seven random letters. Then they chewed chewing gum in their usual rhythm and remembered the same set of letters, and at the end they performed the same task without chewing gum. After in the same order, they performed a test for attentiveness - finding the missing element in the sequence. And finally, in the final, they worked on both types of tasks without chewing gum, but tapping the rhythm with their fingers. Researchers noted that chewing - it does not matter, energetic or natural - like tapping with fingers, led to a deterioration in the test results. Based on this, they concluded that both processes distract the participants from the tasks of the test and worsen the result.

However, in later experiments, their data did not receive scientific confirmation. At the same Cardiff University, another group of scientists under the leadership of Kate Morgan and Andrew Johnson Came To the opposite conclusions. They published their results in the British Journal of Psychology in 2014. The study was attended by 38 volunteer students. The experimenters divided them into two groups: the first chewed gum, the second - no. Both groups for half an hour listened to the same sequence of numbers in which all cases should have been noted when even and odd numbers alternated (for example, 7 - 4 - 3). The chewing chewing gum in general coped with the task, demonstrating a special advantage at the end of the experiment. The non -chewing chewing gum began with a slight lead, but they soon began to lag behind. Scientists concluded that chewing gum contributed to concentration on tasks requiring constant control over a relatively long period of time. 

The advantage of chewing volunteers over the non -those was demonstrated in experiment With visual incentives conducted by scientists from the University of Netherlands, Groningen in 2011. As in an experiment with a auditory perception, a group that used chewing gum was at first a little inferior to a non -stinging group, but then caught up and even surpassed the participants from the control group. 

In 2015, Japanese scientists Published The results of a systematic review of the accumulated data. Using international scientific bases of knowledge, they selected 22 relevant research and analyzed their results. The chewing gum improved attentiveness and cognitive functions according to the results of 14 studies, in five works both positive and negative aspects of chewing were demonstrated, in two cases, scientists did not find advantages either among the chewing groups or the group of non -wheeled, and only in one experiment they managed to deal with the task proposed by the experimenters. Given the fact that in more than half the research, a group of chewers showed the best results, scientists concluded that chewing nevertheless improves attentiveness and cognitive functions.

At the same time, the tests performed by the experimental participants are not very similar to the tasks that schoolchildren and students face every day. The gap was filled with Turkish and Australian scientists.

The first Spent Randomized controlled study in a group of 100 university students. Those who chewed chewing gum showed the best results on the exam than those who did not chew. Moreover, the chewing group experienced less stress and anxiety. Scientists in conclusions to their work recommended that students chew gum before exams in order to overcome excitement and increase the success of work.

Australian scientists concentrated On the reconstruction of the atmosphere of the lecture, not the exam. 40 volunteers, divided into two groups, listened to a lecture on physiology within 20 minutes. Burning participants showed the best development of terminology and a general understanding of the subject. The other 39 volunteers, also divided into two groups, listened to a nine -minute course on mental mathematics strategies (conducting mathematical calculations in the mind). The chewing group in the subsequent practical test for the use of the acquired knowledge also coped better than the non -cheap.

The experiments showed that chewing positively affects not only study, but also on professional activities. Scientists from Ireland and Great Britain Sicked A group of 126 people, including 36 secretaries, 36 university teachers and researchers, 12 managers, ten technical workers, four psychologists, four marketing specialists, four support service workers, two dentists, two teachers and 16 more other professions. At first, all volunteers went through a series of tests for a psychological state after a regular working day, and then half of them offered the next day the packaging of a chewing gum of ten pillows so that they could chew it at any time of the day when they want. The second half of the participants went to their workplace without chewing gum. At the end of the day, a group of chewers demonstrated a lower level of stress and inattention, and also subjectively appreciated itself as less tired than on the previous day. Anxiety and depression in both groups remained at about the same level. Scientists concluded that chewing helps to concentrate on working tasks and is associated with a greater degree of relaxation, regardless of human profession.

It is unambiguous to answer the question why chewing improves cognitive functions, scientists cannot. Perhaps the substances contained in the chewing gum act on the brain. Group of researchers from Northumbrian University Sicked 75 volunteers, during the tests, a third of them chewed chewing gum, did not chew a third, and the third made movements with jaws and tongue, chewing an imaginary chewing gum. A group of those chewing real chewing gum demonstrated the best results, but the group with an imaginary chewing gum did not differ from the group of tender ones. Researchers noted that the frequency of heart contractions in the group chewing real chewing gum was greater, which, in turn, contributed to the saturation of the brain with oxygen. Explaining the advantage of the chewing group, scientists also suggestedWhat can be in insulin, which is released in the process of chewing in response to the substances contained in the chewing gum and activates the hippocampus - the area of ​​the brain that is responsible for memorizing information. This aspect, perhaps, explains the worst indicators of the chewing group in the first described experiment, because there, unlike other experiments, the participants were invited to chew not the usual chewing gum, but an analogue specially designed for the experiment. 

Thus, the vast majority of experiments demonstrate the advantage of those who chew chewing gum. They show the best results in both attention tests, and in the assimilation of new theoretical material, and in the practical application of the knowledge gained. Experiments with students and employees of various professions showed that chewing helps concentrate and achieve the best results, and also reduces stress and excitement. 

Image on the cover: Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on UNSPLash

Not true

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