Coffee is not necessary to drink: its smell also helps to fight sleep
Scientists from South Korea, Germany and Japan have shown that the aroma of coffee alone can change the activity profile of genes in the brain. The researchers, whose work (Effects of Coffee Bean Aroma on the Rat Brain Stressed by Sleep Deprivation: A Selected Transcript- and 2D Gel-Based Proteome Analysis) will be published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, conducted experiments on rats.
The objectives of the study were, firstly, to determine the effect of the smell of roasted coffee beans on the brain of animals, and secondly, to assess the effect of this smell on rats who were deprived of sleep. The experimental animals were divided into four groups. The control group was not exposed to any influences. Rats from the stress group were forcibly kept awake for 24 hours. Animals from the "coffee" group smelled the smell of grains, but were not subjected to stress. Rats from the fourth group (coffee plus stress) had to smell the smell of coffee after 24 hours of wakefulness.
The researchers determined changes in the level of the genes of several proteins responsible for the perception of odors or for the reaction to stress. In rats from the coffee group, 17 genes worked differently than in rats from the control group. The "difference" between the coffee group and the "coffee plus stress" group was 13 genes. Some of the genes worked (expressed proteins) more intensively, and some, on the contrary, decreased their activity.
In rats exposed to stress, changes in the synthesis of a number of proteins were observed. The smell of coffee helped restore the normal level of synthesis of some of them, in particular, antioxidants and heat shock proteins that protect cells from various stressful effects.
It is unknown whether the smell of coffee has the same effect on humans as on rats. However, the results obtained may explain why many people like this smell so much.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of "Lenta.Ru"17.06.2008