Author : Dr. P. D.GUPTA
Former Director Grade Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
www.daylife.page
Everybody knows that tea/coffee boosts alertness, vigilance, attention and speed, accuracy, and coordination of sensorimotor behaviour, and, most importantly, the speed, capacity, and flexibility of brain activity. This may be due to caffeine present in tea and coffee, but new research suggests there may be other underlying mechanisms that explain these effects. Certain compounds in coffee, including caffeine and chlorogenic acids, have well-documented psychoactive effects, but the psychological impact of coffee/caffeine consumption as a whole remains a matter of debate.
Caffeine Can't Take All the Credits
In order to decide whether only caffeine does the trick or something else is making the difference Portuguese scientists perform some experiments The researchers investigated the neurobiological impact of coffee drinking on brain connectivity. To work out the specific impact of caffeinated coffee intake, they selected 47 generally healthy adults (mean age, 30; 31 women) who regularly drank a minimum of one cup of coffee per day.
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In their experiment they gave 30 habitual coffee drinkers (mean age, 32; 27 women) hot water containing the same amount of caffeine, but they were not given coffee.
Both drinking coffee and drinking plain caffeine in water led to a decrease in functional connectivity of the brain's default mode network, which is typically active during self-reflection in resting states.
However, drinking a cup of coffee also boosted connectivity in the higher visual network and the right executive control network, which are linked to working memory, cognitive control, and goal-directed behavior ― something that did not occur from drinking caffeinated water.
"Put simply, individuals exhibited a heightened state of preparedness, being more responsive and attentive to external stimuli after drinking coffee," said first author Maria Picó-Pérez, Given that some of the effects of coffee also occurred with caffeine alone, it's "plausible to assume that other caffeinated beverages may share similar effects," she added.
Still, certain effects were specific to coffee drinking, "likely influenced by factors such as the distinct aroma and taste of coffee or the psychological expectations associated with consuming this particular beverage," the researcher writes.
The investigators report that the observations could provide a scientific foundation for the common belief that coffee increases alertness and cognitive functioning. (The author has his own study and views)
