Chewing Gum Affect Test Scores

Review of Literature Thousands of people participate in brain taxing assessments every day. Most people rely solely on hours of studying to get an acceptable grade, but what if something as simple as chewing gum could improve memorization? Many studies over the years can show that chewing gum can affect how effective your brain is at memorizing information. Chewing gum can be known to speed up the brain by get more blood flow to the brain. The effect can cause the brain to warm up quicker and recall what it needs to remember (Abel “Does Chewing Gum Affect," n.d.). Chewing gum can affect test scores because chewing gum warms up the brain, memories are stored in the brain,and alertness plays a factor when test taking . Chewing gum can improve …show more content…
Each memory is used to make up one whole experience or event that your brain can classify or identify. Memories are distributed throughout the brain and aren’t stored in one particular spot or location. With memories being scattered throughout the brain, sorbitol in chewing gum wakes up the brain as a whole, which causes memories to become more obvious when on a sugar high(Abel “Does Chewing Gum Affect," n.d.). Cognitive information is then more easily remembered due to it being strictly memorization based. Also each memory has its own set of brain cells the brain cells that make up memories all scatter about the brain allowing them to be remembered. This is what causes us to randomly think of objects or experiences when it is unintentional. Cognitive information is always remembered as facts and get recalled once the brain is alert. The chewing gum can also act as a refresh for the brain once it has been used. Just like the body the brain gets tired and performance will drop off after continuous use. Gum will send a shot of energy to the brain to keep it going although it will die off after a while just like the bodies physical performance will dip off after much exertion. The parietal lobe is the area of the brain that deal with chewing and small actions(Brynie ,The Physical Brain, 2001, p. 29). Paired with the portion of the brain that registers taste, the brain is …show more content…
Studies show that patients who chew gum can remember 20-23 percent more cognitive information in their short term memory (Smith “Effects of chewing gum,” n.d). A study shows that patients who chewed gum also experienced a higher reaction time and more accurate results in a test. The test subjects also reported feeling more awake and focused than the subjects without gum. Being alert can also lead to faster reaction time and more focus. Although patients who chew gum recorded a worse score in the first five minutes of the test but overcame the others in the later portion of the test. This is because the sorbitol takes time to reach the brain and during this time no improvements are being made. Although the effects only last about 20 minutes from the height of the effects. Orofacial sensorimotor and promotor cortex that control chewing speed up brain activity when active (Smith “Effects of chewing gum,” n.d.).The cerebral cortex is the portion of the brain that deals with reactions and coordination. This part of the brain has to due also with thoughts, expressions, and decision-making. So while this part of the brain is improved, many things that have to do with thinking and test taking, which leads to improved memory for a short