Can chewing gum make you smarter?

According to this article, NBC's Today show recently did a story titled: "Two recent studies show chewing gm may make you smarter."

Could this be true? Is there some ingredient in gum that scientists discovered stimulates brain activity? Maybe the combination of gum and saliva releases an agent that creates new, more efficient pathways in the brain?

Actually, no. The only way gum makes us "smarter" is the fact that "chewing gum increases blood flow to the brain." However, this research was conducted by the Wrigley Science Institute, which isn't exactly an un-biased source for this type of information. Plus, using this logic, you could say that chewing anything would temporarily increase your intelligence.

That said, in situations where you'll benefit from this kind of a boost -- like an exam, for instance -- the company might be onto something. According to one professor Wrigley interviewed, students "recalled more words and performed better in tests on working memory when they chewed gum. " However, their professor adds, "We think it is the effect of chewing which causes this, rather than anything in the gum itself."