Coffee thoughts leave a latte on the mind
Source: Monash University
For millions of people, each day begins with a hot cup of coffee in order to activate our brains for the working day. The morning coffee run also acts a social lubricant, a creature comfort and, for some, a non-negotiable ritual.
New international research by Monash University and the University of Toronto has found that the placebo effect of coffee can heighten arousal, ambition and focus in regular drinkers without them actually consuming the beverage.
As long as individuals see a connection between coffee and arousal, whatever its origin may be, mere exposure to coffee-related cues might trigger arousal in and of themselves without ingesting any form of caffeine.
Smelling coffee gives rise to the beverage's psychoactive, arousing effects. This is because the brains of habitual coffee consumers are conditioned to respond to coffee in certain ways, as per the prominent Pavlov's dog theory
So walking past your favourite café, smelling the odours of coffee grounds, or even witnessing coffee-related cues in the form of advertising can trigger the chemical receptors in our body enough for us to obtain the same arousal sensations without consumption.