Coffee, regular consumption “wakes up” the brain as well
Coffee is there most studied and consumed drink in the world after water. It has always been known as a great help to keep us awake but now, for the first time, a research team has scientifically evaluated the effects of coffee consumption. on the interactions between different areas of the brain. And the results have been more than positive. In fact, she registered more attention, greater alertness and concentration among the “coffee lovers” compared to people to those who do not consume it. “We are what we eat”, was the maxim of the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach already in the middle of the 19th century. And over the years, with the progress of research, this axiom has been repeatedly confirmed by many scientific evidences. It is now established that many foods, from dried fruit, to blue fish, tomatoes, tea and coffee as well as berries they are perfect “activators” of physical and mental well-being.
Coffee has beneficial effects on mental performance
The effects that coffee, a beverage loved all over the world, can affect mental performance, from concentration to motor control, from creativity to learning and memory, they are well known and confirmed by a vast scientific literature. Up until now, however, changes in how had never been studied moderate consumption can affect brain connections. To do so for the first time a study (small in numbers but very significant in results) conducted by School of Medicine of the University of Minho (Portugal), promoted by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee – ISIC and published in Molecular Psychiatry. What the team of scientists has recently and for the first time highlighted is the beneficial role of coffee on connectivity and functionality between different brain areas which, according to much scientific evidence, affect intelligence (i.e. the ability to process information at cognitive level).
Coffee is the best interactions with brain areas
Researchers, thanks to the use of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), compared the connections and brain structure of 31 regular coffee users and 24 people who do not drink it, in three situations: while they were at rest (without taking caffeine), while performing a mental task and immediately after. having sipped a cup of this drink. The results showed that, in some areas of the brain, more efficient connections were found in coffee drinkers. Connections that resulted in improvements control of movement, memory and learning ability, as well as greater alertness and concentration. It is also interesting to note that the same effects were also recorded in habitual non-drinkers immediately after consuming a cup of coffee, demonstrating that the neuronal effects of this drink are activated quickly, even if for a shorter time than in people who they consume it daily.
Coffee is better motor control and better learning skills
“This is the first time that the effect of regular coffee consumption on brain networks has been studied at this level of detail”, said Dr. Nuno Sousa, a professor at the University of Minho School of Medicine. “We were able to observe the effect of coffee on functional connections and brain structure, and we also found differences, in real time, between those who regularly drink coffee and those who do not. These findings, at least in part, helped explain some of the effects of coffee observed in existing studies, such as improved motor control, alertness and memory, and improved learning skills, ”Sousa concluded.
Coffee, a must-have drink but with moderate consumption
To be fit mentally too, coffee is a “brain food” that cannot be missing from one’s eating routine. From science comes a new confirmation of what the “coffee lovers” already knew very well, especially in a country that loves this drink like Italy. In addition, the research “Italians and coffee” conducted by Astra Research for Coffee Promotion Consortium, emphasizes that those who drink coffee also do so for its energizing qualities, which are essential when waking up or at times of the day when greater concentration is sought. Yet another confirmation of the value for a drink loved all over the world, which continues to amaze with its numerous benefits on the body and mind.