title: Near-infrared spectroscopic study on the effects of chewing on short-term memory.
abstract: Using near-infrared spectroscopy, we examined whether chewing gum improves performance in a short-term memory task - immediate recall of random eight-digit numbers - by assessing cerebral hemodynamic response in the prefrontal cortex. We found that the oxyhemoglobin concentration during and after chewing gum was higher than that before chewing; further, the concentration increased during the task, and this increase was reduced with chewing, although non-significantly. Chewing did not improve task performance. Therefore, chewing-induced hemodynamic responses were unrelated to the performance in short-term memory tasks.
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iguchi
authors.forename: Ikuhiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kida
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002638:Chewing Gum; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002638:Chewing Gum; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins