Green tea is known for many health benefits, including its effects against cancer, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Now, new research suggests the beverage can enhance our brain's cognitive functions, particularly the working memory.
The research team - including Prof Christoph Beglinger and Prof Stefan Borgwardt of the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland - stated that their findings suggest that green tea could be promising in the treatment of cognitive impairments associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, such as dementia.
Green tea, native to China and India, is produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis bush. Unlike other teas, green tea is made from unoxidised leaves. This minimal processing means it is rich in antioxidants.
According to the researchers, "The present study shows that green tea extract enhances functional connectivity from the parietal to the frontal cortex during working memory processing in healthy controls.
Interestingly, this effect on effective connectivity was related to the green tea-induced improvement in cognitive performance. Our findings provide first insights into the neural effect of green tea on working memory processing at the neural network level, suggesting a mechanism on short-term plasticity of interregional brain connections."
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