Here's what coffee can do to your brain (Update)

A new study has predicted the association between coffee consumption habits and the incidence of pre-symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Researchers at the University of Bari in Italy evaluated 1,445 individuals recruited from 5,632 subjects, aged 65-84 year old, and interesting found that cognitively normal older individuals who modified their habits by increasing with time their amount of coffee consumption (> 1 cup of coffee/day) had about two times higher rate of MCI compared to those with reduced habits (< 1 cup of coffee/day) and about one and half time higher rate of MCI in comparison with those with constant habits (neither more nor less 1 coffee/day). Moreover, those who habitually consumed moderate amount of coffee (1 or 2 cups of coffee/day) had a reduced rate of the incidence of MCI than those who habitually never or rarely consumed coffee.

No significant association was verified between who habitually consumed higher levels of coffee consumption (> 2 cups of coffee/day) and the incidence of MCI in comparison with those who never or rarely consumed coffee.

Investigators Vincenzo Solfrizzi and Francesco Panza said that these findings suggested that cognitively normal older individuals who never or rarely consumed coffee and those who increased their coffee consumption habits had a higher risk of developing MCI.

They said that moderate and regular coffee consumption may have neuroprotective effects against MCI, confirming previous studies on the long-term protective effects of coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption and plasma levels of caffeine against cognitive decline and dementia.

The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.