Chewing Gum Lab Report

Introduction Stress is caused by “the consequence of an organism’s failure to respond adequately to physical or psychological demands.” (Yu, Chen, Liu, & Zhou, 2013, p. 1) Stress in the long run could cause someone to become sick. Stress also affects the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) which is partially responsible for multiple subconscious functions such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate. People and cultures have methods to control their levels of stress; one method is to chew gum. “chewing gum reduces tension and the surplus energy goes unwittingly to the main work.” (Yu, Chen, Liu, & Zhou, 2013, p. 2) Chewing gum also helps individuals multitask, relieve mental stress, and improves performance. Scientists in Beijing, China attempted to measure stress levels and to examine effects of gum on the
The action of chewing gum, while listening to the stress inducing noise lowered stress. Chewing gum relieved stress by inhibiting the sensory processing of sensory nerves. It is possible that the chewing action distracts the participant from the noise. The AI is responsible for internal, sub-conscious actions, so external responses are easily dulled by internal sensors. The dACC is responsible for attention and control and as it becomes more connected to the AI there is more control in autonomic activity within the body, meaning stress can be controlled. Chewing gum did not increase the connection between the two parts in the brain because even though it is internal the noise exists, and the brain still interprets it as noise. The internal noise is not specifically targeted with chewing gum, mastication of other food and materials can cause the same type of experience. Regardless of the sound “noise increase the activity and the interconnectivity within the stress network” whether it is coping with it or being negatively