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Does coffee enriched with chlorogenic acids improve mood and cognition after acute administration in healthy elderly? A pilot study

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Abstract

Rationale

Caffeine exerts positive effects on cognitive and behavioral processes, especially in sub-optimal conditions when arousal is low. Apart from caffeine, coffee contains other compounds including the phenolic compounds ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and the chlorogenic acids, which have purported antioxidant properties. The chlorogenic acids are the most abundant family of compounds found in coffee, yet their effects on cognition and mood have not been investigated.

Objectives

This study aims to ascertain whether a coffee rich in chlorogenic acid modulates brain function.

Methods

The present pilot study examined the acute effects of decaffeinated coffee with regular chlorogenic acid content and decaffeinated coffee with high chlorogenic acid content on mood and cognitive processes, as measured by behavioral tasks and event-related potentials (ERPs). Performance and ERP responses to a battery of cognitive tasks were recorded at baseline and following the equivalent of three cups of coffee in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study of 39 healthy older participants.

Results

Compared with the decaffeinated coffee with regular chlorogenic acid and placebo, caffeinated coffee showed a robust positive effect on higher-level mood and attention processes. To a lesser extent, the decaffeinated coffee high in chlorogenic acid also improved some mood and behavioral measures, relative to regular decaffeinated coffee.

Conclusions

Our pilot results suggest that non-caffeine compounds in coffee such as the chlorogenic acids may be capable of exerting some acute behavioral effects, thus warranting further investigation.

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Notes

  1. Note that Caffeinated Coffee increased the CRVAS ‘Relaxed’ scores relative to Placebo but not Regular CGA Decaf. This may suggest that CGA played a role in this improvement. However, as High did not differ from Regular CGA Decaf on this metric, this argues against CGA playing a role in that finding.

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Acknowledgments

The coffee products were provided free of charge by Nestle Research Center. This research was funded by Nestec Ltd (Nestle Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland). BYS and JAJS are employees of Nestlé. Nestec, through employees BYS and JAJS, was involved in the concept of the study, the trial design, monitoring of data, interpretation and the writing, and approval of the report. The authors have full control of all primary data. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Sources of support/disclosure statement

This research was funded by Nestec Ltd (Nestle Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland). BYS and JAJS are employees of Nestlé. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

    Vanessa Cropley, Chris Neale, Andrew Scholey & Con Stough

  2. School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Rodney Croft

  3. Nestle Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Beata Silber & Jeroen Schmitt

  4. Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

    Vanessa Cropley, Chris Neale, Andrew Scholey & Con Stough

Authors
  1. Vanessa Cropley
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  2. Rodney Croft
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  3. Beata Silber
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  4. Chris Neale
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  5. Andrew Scholey
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  6. Con Stough
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  7. Jeroen Schmitt
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Correspondence to Rodney Croft.

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Cropley, V., Croft, R., Silber, B. et al. Does coffee enriched with chlorogenic acids improve mood and cognition after acute administration in healthy elderly? A pilot study. Psychopharmacology 219, 737–749 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2395-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2395-0

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