title: Effects of green and black tea consumption on brain wave activities in healthy volunteers as measured by a simplified Electroencephalogram (EEG): A feasibility study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Tea has been associated with many mental benefits, such as attention enhancement, clarity of mind, and relaxation. These psychosomatic states can be measured in terms of brain activity using an electroencephalogram (EEG). Brain activity can be assessed either during a state of passive activity or when performing attention tasks and it can provide useful information about the brain's state. This study investigated the effects of green and black consumption on brain activity as measured by a simplified EEG, during passive activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight healthy volunteers participated in the study. The EEG measurements were performed using a two channel EEG brain mapping instrument - HeadCoach™. Fast Fourier transform algorithm and EEGLAB toolbox using the Matlab software were used for data processing and analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alpha, theta, and beta wave activities were all found to increase after 1 hour of green and black tea consumption, albeit, with very considerable inter-individual variations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings provide further evidence for the putative beneficial effects of tea. The highly significant increase in theta waves (P < 0.004) between 30 minutes and 1 hour post-consumption of green tea may be an indication of its putative role in cognitive function, specifically alertness and attention. There were considerable inter-individual variations in response to the two teas which may be due genetic polymorphisms in metabolism and/or influence of variety/blend, dose and content of the selected products whose chemistry and therefore efficacy will have been influenced by 'from field to shelf practices'.
authors.affiliation: a Human Nutrition Research Centre, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development , Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU , UK.
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Okello
authors.affiliation: a Human Nutrition Research Centre, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development , Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU , UK.
authors.forename: Awatf M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abadi
authors.affiliation: b School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering , Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU , UK.
authors.forename: Saad A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Abadi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001288:Attention; D001611:Beta Rhythm; D058256:Brain Waves; D003071:Cognition; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004739:England; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry; D013826:Theta Rhythm; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D013662:Tea
keywords: Black tea; Brain waves; Electroencephalogram (EEG); Green tea