Based on volumes of data from countless of studies over many years, scientists have concluded that what we consume has a direct effect on our physical, mental and emotional health. This idea also holds true in what we drink.

There exists chemical properties in the liquids we consume which can positively or negatively interact with our biochemistry which impact how we feel and perform.

Drinking our morning coffee has become a ritual for millions of people worldwide for generations. We have become convinced that we cannot perform or start our day without it.

So is there any neurological basis to support having “our daily cup of Joe?”

Coffee is the most popular beverage people consume to become more energized, awake, and alert because it is a stimulant.

According to the International Coffee Organization, more than 165 million 60-kg bags are consumed globally per year. With potential health benefits being reported like; prevention of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and Parkinson’s disease. The added benefits are that people seek coffee to help them stay more awake and alert when fatigued. Which leads to greater work production throughout the day from the enhancement of psychomotor functioning and cognitive performance coffee can provide.

The stimulant affects from coffee are primarily derived from the role caffeine has in antagonizing adenosine A1 and A2a receptors. This action “leads to disinhibition of excitatory neurotransmitter release and enhancement of dopamine transmission via D2 receptor.”

The conclusions scientists have seen about coffee has come from its affects as a central stimulant. But findings are inconclusive in regards to coffee’s effects of working memory, executive functioning, cognitive tasks, attention, executive control and higher cognition.

Most previous studies of coffee have been centered on evaluation of cognitive effects of caffeine from results of neurocognitive tests. There has been no attention given to investigation of the effects of caffeine on neurocognitive functioning in the context of functional connectivity. Meaning that taking into account what caffeine has on the integration of certain brain regions and neural networks involved which is required for healthy brain functioning.

This small study of 21 people takes a closer look into the relationship between coffee and cognition. It involved healthy and educated participants with no known medical or neurological conditions. They were asked not to drink any caffeinated beverage or take any medication 24 hours prior to the experiment. The participants completed a mini-mental state examination and an EEG at baseline, and then again, 30 minutes after they drank the coffee and compared the data.

The results indicate changes within the neurological tests that all demonstrated improvements of executive functioning after the coffee was consumed. The study results suggest of a neurocognitive mechanism involved in the underlying effects of the caffeine to behavioral changes as seen previously in other research done involving fMRI screening. This EEG based study supports the idea of caffeine can increase cognition, working memory and attention.

The findings from this small study were interesting in their supportive conclusions when it came to how caffeine can affect neurocognition in many people. It didn’t however take into account that coffee effects people differently and to what amounts are to be consumed for healthy brain and nervous system functioning. But for now it seems that a relative amount of daily consumption of coffee can be neurocognitively beneficial to most of the population.

-A Balanced Brain is a Better Brain-