Drinking coffee seems to have several benefits. In addition to the physical boost it provides, coffee may reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and dementia and even help us to live longer. This new study published in Journal of Environmental Psychology teaches us that reveals that the smell of coffee alone can help with brain stimulation.
The smell of coffee improves performance
Researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology in the United States gave an algebra test to about 100 undergraduate business students, divided into two groups. The first responded to the test in the presence of a coffee-like ambient scent, while the control group stayed in an odorless room. The researchers found that the smell of coffee led to higher questionnaire results.
“It wasn’t just that the smell of coffee helped the volunteers respond better to analytical tasks, which was already interesting,” said Adriana Madzharov, professor at the Stevens School of Business. “But the participants also thought they would do better, and we have shown that this expectation is at least in part responsible for the improved performance.” In short, smelling a coffee-like scent, which does not contain caffeine, has a similar effect to drinking coffee, suggesting a placebo effect of the smell of coffee.
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