- A recent study examined the effect of unique tea amino acid L-theanine (-glutamylethylamide) on attention-related task performance
- Task performance was measured by electroencephalography (EEG) or measurement of electrical activity produced by the brain as recorded from electrodes placed on scalp
- Results suggest that L-theanine in synergy with caffeine plays a role in attentional processing
- Subjects given daily extracts of green tea and L-theanine extracted from green tea showed improvements in mild cognitive impairments
- It was also seen in a cross-sectional study that participants who consumed more tea exhibited lesser fatigue and higher level of subjective work performance
- A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) revealed that regular tea drinkers have better organised brain regions, associated with healthy cognitive function, compared to non-tea drinkers. The research team made this discovery after examining neuroimaging data of 36 older adults
- Results of a longitudinal study led by Assistant Professor Feng which was published in 2017 showed that daily consumption of tea can reduce the risk of cognitive decline in older persons by 50%
- Individuals who consumed either green tea, oolong tea, or black tea at least four times a week for about 25 years had brain regions that were interconnected in a more efficient way
Overall, it is increasingly being established that drinking tea has positive effect on the cognitive functions and is beneficial for brain health.
Ref: Junhua Li, Rafael Romero-Garcia, John Suckling, Lei Feng. Habitual tea drinking modulates brain efficiency: evidence from brain connectivity evaluation. Aging, 2019; 11 (11): 3876 DOI: 10.18632/aging.102023