New Research Reveals A Little-Known Way Coffee Affects The Brain
Key takeaways
- Author: Zhané Slambee May 16, 2026mindbodygreen editor By Zhané Slambee Image by Nicole Mason / Stocksy May 16, 2026Coffee is the world's most consumed beverages.
- Your brain constantly processes sensory information (like touch) and uses it to guide movement.
- Think of SAI as a gauge for how well your brain integrates what you feel with how you move, and this process tends to weaken in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Why this matters: practical guidance grounded in recent research or expert insight.
Author: Zhané Slambee May 16, 2026mindbodygreen editor By Zhané Slambee Image by Nicole Mason / Stocksy May 16, 2026Coffee is the world's most consumed beverages. Yet most people think of it simply as a morning ritual or a means to a much-needed alertness boost. But caffeine does more than perk up your brain. New research1 suggests it also improves how your sensory and motor systems communicate, a process that's tied to attention, sensory processing, and even long-term brain health. Here's what you need to know.
Your brain constantly processes sensory information (like touch) and uses it to guide movement. The efficiency of this sensory-motor communication can be measured using a technique called short-latency afferent inhibition, or SAI.
Think of SAI as a gauge for how well your brain integrates what you feel with how you move, and this process tends to weaken in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.