The Impact of Coffee on the Brain's Striatum Volume.

A study from China using MRI data reported that heavier coffee drinkers, based on the number of cups consumed daily, have a lower volume of the striatum, a brain region affected in Parkinson’s disease, whether or not they have Parkinson’s. Regular coffee consumption, without an emphasis on cups per day, also was tied to a significantly reduced volume in this brain region, but only among healthy adults rather than patients. The study provides evidence for the effect of chronic coffee consumption on striatal volume in a living human brain.