Posted on March 28, 2022.

A group of coffee-loving researchers at the University of Cincinnati have reported the first application of spent coffee grounds as a coating material for neurotransmitters.

In other words, rather than stimulating your brain activity, coffee may someday soon be measuring it.

The researchers are presenting their results at the spring meeting of the nonprofit American Chemical Society (ACS) this week.

According to the research team led by University of Cincinnati chemist Ashley Ross, the traditional microelectrodes that neuroscientists use to detect minute neurochemistry changes are typically composed of carbon fiber.

Ross and her team had the idea to test coffee grounds as a more affordable and sustainable alternative to carbon fiber, given the coffee material’s conductive properties.

For the project, researchers heated and treated coffee grounds until they were left only with a pourous carbon material. That material was then further treated and applied as a thin coating to electrodes. Study results showed that coffee-coated electrodes were significantly more responsive to dopamine changes than non-coated electrodes.

Original Post: https://dailycoffeenews.com/2022/03/22/spent-coffee-grounds-may-someday-be-used-to-track-brain-activity/