The effect of biting on short-term memory

• Project/Area Number: 24792002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Pathobiological dentistry/Dental radiology
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: NAKAMURA Yuko 九州大学, 歯学研究科(研究院), 助教 (00610023)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2013)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
• Keywords: 咀嚼運動 / 手指運動 / 短期記憶

Research Abstract

Previous research suggests that biting has the effect to enhance short-term memory. This study intends to examine the effect of biting on creating short-term memory using fMRI. To examine the effect of biting on creating short-term memory, we compared the percentage of correct answers of short-term memory test and that of the test that was performed after biting or finger-tapping. The percentage of correct answers of short-term memory test that was performed after biting or finger-tapping were higher than that of short-term memory test. Additionally, the percentage of correct answers of short-term memory test that was performed after biting was higher than that of the test performed after finger-tapping. This result suggested that biting has the effect to enhance creating short-term memory. This study would indicate that improving the function of biting might help to create short-term memory.