Near-infrared spectroscopic study on the effects of chewing on short-term memory

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.