Does coffee affect the way you drink affect your brain? In the new study, there is evidence of a possible answer to the question that this is so.
Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee were linked to cognition, mood, and other health effects, according to the Nature Communications research. While decaffeinated coffee was associated with memory enhancement, caffeinated coffee was associated with lower anxiety and increased attention in the study.
The findings challenge the idea that all coffee's effects come from caffeine. Both types of coffee have been found to affect stress, mood, and impulsivity, which means that compounds other than caffeine might also be contributing.
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But the study was small and does not mean that people should switch to a specific type of coffee solely for memory or anxiety. Only specific changes were examined under controlled conditions, and coffee did not address anxiety or memory problems.
What The Coffee Study Did Find
The study was conducted with 62 healthy adults in their 30s to 50s, who have been drinking coffee. Researchers first stopped drinking coffee and all other caffeine for two weeks. Then they were given coffee (caffeinated or decaffeinated) for three weeks. Measures of cognition, mood, stress, sleep, physical activity, and changes in the gut microbiome were evaluated.
The memory performance was one of the clearest differences.
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Participants who took decaffeinated coffee showed significant improvement in episodic memory on a test of this intervention. The authors therefore concluded that coffee's cognitive effects may be independent of caffeine.
The caffeinated coffee group, in contrast, showed lower trait anxiety and psychological distress. They also showed improvements in attention and some measures related to coping with stress.
However, there were some common changes in both groups. When drinking caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, they found that perceived stress, depression, and impulsivity dropped during the intervention period. This means that caffeine alone could not account for the psychological impact in the study.
Decaf Coffee And Memory: What Could Explain The Difference?
The researchers were particularly interested in the connection between coffee and the gut-brain axis, which describes the two-way communication between the digestive system and brain.
Coffee consumption altered the participants’ gut microbiome composition and several microbial and coffee-related metabolites. Some of these changes occurred after participants resumed drinking coffee after the two-week break, including in the decaffeinated group.
This is important because it indicates coffee has some compounds (and more than caffeine) that can affect physiology and cognitive processes.
The decaffeinated coffee was linked to memory, sleep quality, and physical activity improvement, the study said. Caffeinated coffee was linked to lower anxiety, psychological distress, and increased attention, it said.
The researchers therefore concluded that caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee may have different effects, rather than one type being universally better than the other.
Does caffeine really reduce anxiety?
The finding of anxiety needs some context.
In this study, participants who drank caffeinated coffee also reported a reduction in trait anxiety and psychological distress after the intervention. That does not mean caffeine reduces anxiety in general for everyone.
Caffeine has been shown to increase anxiety, especially at higher doses. A meta-analysis showed an association between caffeine consumption and anxiety at higher levels.
In a 2026 systematic review, caffeine and anxiety were also investigated by healthy individuals, and the authors said the reasons are the importance of dosage and individual differences when interpreting the evidence.
This apparent difference between studies is why the new findings should not be interpreted as a recommendation to consume more caffeine. The individual responses to caffeine can be quite different, and people who are sensitive to caffeine may experience nervousness, restlessness, or sleep problems.
Coffee's effects might go beyond caffeine.
Both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee had an impact on the gut microbiome and several metabolites. The changes may be one reason why some effects were observed even when decaffeinated coffee was consumed.
The findings also add to the growing body of research on diet, gut microbes, and brain function. But the study does not establish that changes in gut bacteria directly led to improvements in memory or mood.
Researchers also cited limitations such as the relatively small sample size. To be sure, larger and more diverse groups would also be necessary to assess whether the same effects exist in different groups.
For coffee drinkers, the findings are more nuanced. If you want to limit caffeine, decaffeinated coffee may still contain compounds associated with some of the drink’s effects. And caffeinated coffee can have different effects on attention and anxiety for some people.
And yet, the study does not address coffee as a treatment for anxiety, stress, or memory problems. Rather, it is a hint that coffee’s effects on the brain and body may be more complicated than caffeine alone.
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