Kawakami Y, Takeda T, Konno M, Suzuki Y, Kawano Y, Ozawa T, Kondo Y, Sakatani K
Department of Sports Dentistry, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan.
Department of General Dentistry, Tokyo Dental College Chiba Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017;977:221-226. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-55231-6_30.
Cognitive function tends to decrease with aging, therefore maintenance of this function in an aging society is an important issue. The role of chewing in nutrition is important. Although several studies indicate that gum chewing is thought to improve cognitive function, it remains debatable whether gum-chewing does in fact improve cognitive function. The Stroop test is a psychological tool used to measure cognition. A shorter reaction time indicates a mean higher behavioral performance and higher levels of oxy-Hb concentration. fNIRS is a powerful, non-invasive imaging technique offering many advantages, including compact size, no need for specially equipped facilities, and the potential for real-time measurement. The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) seems to be mainly involved in the Stroop task.The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that gum-chewing changes cerebral blood flow in the left DLPFC during the Stroop test, and also changes the reaction time. Fourteen healthy volunteers (mean age 26.9 years) participated in this study after providing written informed consent. A piece of tasteless gum weighing 1.0 g was used. Each session was designed in a block manner, i.e. 4 rests (30 s) and 3 blocks of task (30 s). A computerized Stroop test was used (including both congruent and incongruent Stroop tasks) which calculates a response time automatically. The Binominal test was used for comparisons (p < 0.05). The results show activation of the left DLPFC during the Stroop task and that gum chewing significantly increases responses/oxy-Hb concentration and significantly shortens the reaction time.
认知功能往往会随着年龄增长而下降，因此在老龄化社会中维持这一功能是一个重要问题。咀嚼在营养方面的作用很重要。尽管多项研究表明嚼口香糖被认为可以改善认知功能，但嚼口香糖是否真的能改善认知功能仍存在争议。斯特鲁普测试是一种用于测量认知的心理工具。反应时间越短表明行为表现平均越高，且氧合血红蛋白浓度水平越高。功能近红外光谱技术（fNIRS）是一种强大的非侵入性成像技术，具有许多优点，包括体积小巧、无需特殊装备的设施，以及具有实时测量的潜力。左侧背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）似乎主要参与斯特鲁普任务。本研究的目的是调查这样一个假设，即嚼口香糖在斯特鲁普测试期间会改变左侧DLPFC的脑血流量，并且还会改变反应时间。14名健康志愿者（平均年龄26.9岁）在提供书面知情同意后参与了本研究。使用了一块重1.0克的无味口香糖。每个阶段采用分块方式设计，即4次休息（30秒）和3个任务块（30秒）。使用了计算机化的斯特鲁普测试（包括一致和不一致的斯特鲁普任务），该测试会自动计算反应时间。采用二项检验进行比较（p<0.05）。结果显示在斯特鲁普任务期间左侧DLPFC被激活，并且嚼口香糖显著增加反应/氧合血红蛋白浓度，显著缩短反应时间。
