Brain scans confirm what many coffee
drinkers already know -- caffeine perks them up.
The caffeine found in coffee,
tea, soft drinks and chocolate stimulates areas of the
brain governing short-term memory and attention, Austrian
researchers said.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans performed
on the brains of 15 subjects who had just consumed caffeine
equal to that found in two cups of coffee showed increased
activity in the frontal lobe where the working memory
is located and in the anterior cingulum that controls
attention.
"We are able to see that caffeine exerts increases in
neuronal activity in distinct parts of the brain going
along with changes in behavior," said Austrian researcher
Dr. Florian Koppelstatter of the Medical University Innsbruck.
Participants who were subjected to a 12-hour period without
caffeine and a four-hour period without nicotine, another
recognized stimulant found in cigarettes, were better
able to remember a sequence of letters after consuming
100 milligrams of caffeine. Reaction times on short-term
memory tests also improved.
Caffeine is the world's most widely used stimulant, according
to the research presented at the annual meeting of the
Radiological Society of North America. Global daily consumption
of caffeine averages 76 milligrams, equal to 1 1/2 cups
of coffee. In the United States, average consumption is
238 milligrams per day, equal to that found in 4 1/2 cups
of java.
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