The Smell Of Coffee Stimulates The Brain And Improves Cognitive Processes

The smell of coffee delights and stimulates us; What’s more, nothing can be more comforting than letting ourselves be enveloped by its aroma every morning. It is a pleasure for the senses, the palate and also for our brain. In fact, a recent study reveals that even its fragrance is capable of motivating us, enhancing our cognitive processes and even improving our mood.

Most of us have experienced it more than once. All you have to do is open the coffee container, be it the box where the classic capsules go or that bag containing the whole or already ground grain to feel an indefinable olfactory pleasure. We love its smell, its nuances and that velvety depth that transports us to other warmer and more pleasant places.

These suggestive experiences are originated by him, our wise and always capable brain, governed in turn by one of the most powerful senses in most living beings: smell. The smell of coffee travels from the cerebral cortex directly to the limbic system, to those fabulous regions where emotions and memory share the same circuits, the same routes.

If that coffee fragrance improves our performance, it is not at all because it provides us with any power or sudden capacity. We speak only of emotions and well-being, of a simple placebo effect. It is undoubtedly a data full of interest that is worth delving into …

Our brain loves coffee

It is often said that no place is as full of ideas as the inside of a cup of coffee. Writers, students, philosophers and anyone who turns to it in the morning to get activated or at night to resist long hours of study or work knows this. Now, if this drink was the favorite of Napoleon before starting each battle (although his stomach did not think the same) it is not by chance.

Caffeine is one of the alkaloids that our brain likes the most. It is a natural stimulant of the nervous system, its effects are perceived after 15 minutes and can last up to 6 hours. It is something sensational, there is no doubt, and it is all due to its molecular structure. Caffeine is capable of blocking adenosine receptors, those molecules that induce us to sleep or feel tired.

However, there is still more. Coffee not only helps us to clear up in the morning and even to perform a little better at our jobs. In addition to this, it produces a pleasant sensation of pleasure, and the one responsible for this is neither more nor less than it, dopamine. This neurotransmitter induces us a very characteristic state of activation, well-being and motivation; yes, it is also responsible for sometimes becoming true addicts to coffee …

The smell of coffee, a resource of great power but unknown to most

A study published in June of this year in the Journal of Environmental Psychology reveals something really interesting. The smell of coffee improves our cognitive abilities, that is, it optimizes attention, the ability to analyze, solve problems, and work and academic performance in general. It seems like a thing of magic, there is no doubt, however, the author of the work, Dr. Adriana Madzharov, explains something as striking as it is curious: it is a simple placebo effect.

Something that those responsible for this research were able to demonstrate is that it is enough for a room or room to smell like coffee, for 90% of people to experience well-being. Also, something we already know is that the brain is passionate about coffee. Caffeine stimulates you, gives you pleasure and activation. Therefore, the simple aroma can also activate all these processes due to that neural path that occurs between the cerebral cortex and the limbic system: we are motivated to remember its benefits.

The placebo effect certainly has great power in humans. Furthermore, one thing that neuromarketing experts suggest to us is that we often neglect the great effect that the sense of smell has on us. We are facing a practically underused brain resource, when in reality, it is a direct link to our emotions and memory, an exceptional channel capable of giving us inspiration, calm or activation, of improving our attention and introspection, of making us more creative, receptive to the environment …

Helen Keller, the celebrated writer and political activist, lost her senses of sight and hearing at 19 months of age. From this episode, Helen learned very early to be attuned to smells. His world acquired shapes and nuances paying attention to each fragrance, each change, each nuance of the wind, of the earth, of the people that surrounded him …

The smell of coffee was also one of his favorites. Thus, before a world of darkness and without any sound, his universe became infinite and immensely rich thanks to the power of smell. This is something that the marketing industry knows well and it is something that the world of work and organizations will undoubtedly begin to take into account. Sometimes, a fragrance of vanilla, cinnamon, coffee or chocolate is enough to improve the well-being and productivity of workers … We are facing a subject full of possibilities.