Sean Krivitsky, Class of 2026

Dementia is a progressive neurological disease most prevalent in older adults that is associated with aging and significant declines in cognitive function and memory. It has been strongly correlated with general brain atrophy, including of the hippocampus, and the increased presence of lesions (areas of damage within brain tissue) in cerebral white matter. This corresponds to the symptoms observed in dementia patients given the role of the hippocampus in memory and of the brain’s white matter in ensuring fast, effective transmission of neural information. However, the consumption of tea and coffee have been demonstrated to possess neuroprotective properties, which can be attributed to their ingredients possessing strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. 

Researchers at Kanazawa University in Japan sought to better understand the relationship between cognitive decline and coffee/tea consumption in a recent cross-sectional study. This study was performed by collecting data from approximately ten thousand older adults through the Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD). These individuals underwent a thorough screening process, which included three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and were excluded if they did not pass quality control parameters, such as a history of psychotic disorders. Afterwards, patient MRI data was used to make measurements of white matter lesion volume (WMLV), hippocampal volume (HV), and estimated total intracranial volume (eTIV). 

The WMLV and HV values obtained were then divided by eTIV to generate ratios for each patient that were used to examine the effects of coffee and green tea consumption, for which data was obtained through dietary surveys. Analysis of this MRI data revealed that consistent consumption of green tea was significantly associated with a lower WMLV/eTIV ratio. However, no significant impact of green tea consumption on HV/eTIV ratio was observed. Furthermore, coffee also appeared to have an insignificant effect on both WMLV/eTIV and HV/eTIV ratios. 

Ultimately, this study provided further strong support for the myriad benefits of consistent green tea consumption, namely its ability to decrease the risk of white matter lesion-associated disorders including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This neuroprotective functionality of consistent green tea consumption can likely be attributed to its ability to reduce blood pressure, given that hypertension is a significant risk factor for the development of lesions within the brain’s white matter. Despite these properties of green tea, strong risk factors like depression and the presence of biomarkers for poor cardiovascular health inhibit its neuroprotective capabilities.

Figure 1: Depiction of three individuals drinking boseong green tea.

Works Cited:

[1] Shibata, S., Noguchi-Shinohara, M., Shima, A., Ozaki, T., Usui, Y., Taki, Y., Uchida, K., Honda, T., Hata, J., Ohara, T., Mikami, T., Maeda, T., Mimura, M., Nakashima, K., Iga, J., Takebayashi, M., Ninomiya, T., Ono, K., Shibata, M., … Kiyohara, Y. (2025). Green tea consumption and cerebral white matter lesions in community-dwelling older adults without dementia. Npj Science of Food, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-024-00364-w 

[2] Image retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boseong_green_tea.jpg