If your morning cup of coffee keeps you awake, we have better news for you. You really don’t have to drink it all you have to do is think about it and you will be just fine.
According to a new study from the University of Toronto, just thinking about coffee can make your brain more alert and attentive.
Dr Sam Maglio, co-author of the study, said: “People often encounter coffee-related cues, or think about coffee, without actually ingesting it.
“We wanted to see if there was an association between coffee and arousal such that if we simply exposed people to coffee-related cues, their physiological arousal would increase, as it would if they had actually drank coffee.”
In four separate studies, the researchers showed participants either coffee- or tea-related cues.
They found that participants who were shown the coffee-related cues perceived time as shorter and thought in more concrete, precise terms than those who saw tea-related cues.
Dr Maglio explained: “People who experience physiological arousal – again, in this case as the result of priming and not drinking coffee itself – see the world in more specific, detailed terms.
“This has a number of implications for how people process information and make judgements and decisions.”
The researchers now hope to look at the associations people have for other foods and drinks.
For example, just thinking about energy drinks could make you feel more awake – an effect the team plans to investigate.