Drinking coffee on a daily basis can reduce the volume of gray brain matter, according to a study, but that does not mean that caffeine is harming cognitive functions.
- A recent study shows that the daily consumption of caffeine temporarily reduces the volume of gray matter, especially in the right medial temporal lobe, involved in memory.
- However, this effect seems reversible and does not necessarily indicate a negative impact on cognitive functions. Researchers even emphasize that caffeine could have neuroprotective effects in the elderly.
- These results suggest that caffeine influences our brain, justifying new research to better understand its role in cognition and neurodegenerative diseases.
Daily consumption of caffeine can temporarily reduce the volume of the gray material of the brain, according to a updated study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex and relayed by New Atlas. That coffee addicts reassure themselves: these results do not mean that caffeine is harmful to the brain, but rather emphasize a neuronal plasticity induced by this substance, which deserves to be explored in depth.
What is gray matter?
Our brain is made up of gray matter and white matter. Gray matter includes cellular bodies of neurons and nerve synapses, while white matter includes the fibers that connect these neurons. Previous studies have suggested that caffeine consumption could temporarily reduce the volume of gray matter, but also have neuroprotective effects, especially against diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson.
To better understand this effect, researchers conducted a study on 20 young healthy adults. For two ten -day periods, participants consumed either three caffeine tablets a day, or a placebo. At the end of each period, their volume of gray matter was analyzed by functional MRI, and their deep sleep activity was measured via an electroencephalogram.
A particularly affected brain region
The results showed a temporary but significant reduction in the volume of gray matter after ten days of caffeine consumption – an effect that was not observed with placebo. Interestingly, the quality of deep sleep was similar in the two groups, which indicates that this decrease in gray matter is not linked to a sleep disturbance.
The effect was especially visible in the right medial temporal lobe, a region including hippocampus, involved in the formation of memories and spatial cognition. A 2022 study on mice has also shown that chronic caffeine consumption induced molecular changes in the hippocampus. “Changes in the morphology of the brain seem only temporary, but systematic comparisons between regular coffee consumers and those who consume little or not are still lacking”note the researchers.
Cognitive effects that depend on age?
The authors specify that this study does not mean that caffeine is harming cognitive functions. On the contrary, research has shown that caffeine could even preserve them in the elderly at risk of dementia. An advanced hypothesis to explain these contrasting results is that caffeine would affect young healthy adults differently and the elderly already confronted with a cognitive decline. “The fact that caffeine influences our brain structure justifies more in -depth studies”, In particular to determine whether the effects observed have a lasting influence on cognitive functions, insist the researchers.
