Abstract
The object of this study was to make a new type of gum for trial which has a relaxing effect and a special flavono.(‘Relax Gum II’) To test and evaluate its effect, we conducted an experiment using an already-marketed gum as a control. Thecontrol gum is to be referred to as ‘Relax Gum I’. The relaxed state was evaluated by the following two measurements: (1) the elevation of alpha waves in the brain and, cthe effieciency of the sample subjects in performing mathematical calculations.
The items for measurement include normal alpha brain waves and efficiency in doing calculations before gum chewing, alpha brain waves and efficiency after chewing ‘Gum I’, and‘Gum II’. After chewing Gum I the amount of alpha waves increased by 5.1% as compared to the control group, and by 12.1% after chewing ‘Gum II’ . The calculation efficiency increased by 6.1% after chewing ‘Gum I’, and 16.9% after ‘Gum II’. From the above results, it was found that the chewing of the ‘Relax Gum’ increased the appearance of alphawaves in the brain and the ability to calculateefficiently. The act of gum chewing seems to relax a person and increasesone's work concentration. This effect is especially noted in the ‘Relax Gum II’
