By Nathan Kelleher and Hillary Lim/Staff Writers
Maybe teachers should reconsider those $2 gum fines, a new British study suggests.
Researchers from the United Kingdom released the results of a study, which showed that chewing gum activates a part in the brain that deals with short-term memory.
Andrew Scholey of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, one of the lead authors of the report, which was published in New Scientist, said there are three reasons why gum chewing would improve memory.
He said that an earlier Japanese study showed that brain activity in the hippocampus, a region in the brain where short-term memory is stored, increases and becomes more active while people chew.
In addition, chewing gum increases heart rate and by doing that, blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain speeds up.
Finally, Scholey reported that test subjects were more attentive to their surroundings while chewing gum.
Biology Teacher Joseph Iniguez said he is skeptical of the findings.
“There is not enough data to fully prove the idea,” he said. “However if there was a sufficient amount of information, I would fully support the idea of chewing gum during studying. The idea is very possible, but again there needs to be and sufficient amount of evidence to prove it.”
Students even seem skeptical of the idea.
“I do not think that chewing gum would have any effect on the improvement of memory,” said senior Genevieve Luarca.
But is there a type of gum that increases memory most?
The New Scientist interviewed health expert Dr. Susan Lark, who said that nearly any kind of gum is good.
“It’s prudent to stay away from gum sweetened with sugar, or with questionable chemicals,” she said. “Xylitol-sweetened gum is best, since it doesn’t raise your blood sugar, and may even be good for your teeth and gums.”
