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Classification of human brain attention focused on meditation, effected by L-theanine acid in Oolong tea
Abstract and Figures
L-theanine acid is an amino acid in tea which affects
mental state directly. Along with other most popular tea types;
white, green, and black tea, Oolong tea also has sufficient Ltheanine
to relax the human brain. It apparently can reduce the
concern, blood pressure, dissolve the fat in the arteries, and
especially slow aging by substances against free radicals.
Therefore, this research study about the effect of L-theanine in
Oolong Tea on human brain’s attention focused on meditation
during book reading state rely on each person by using
electroencephalograph (EEG) and K-means clustering. An
electrophysiological monitoring will properly measure the voltage
fluctuation of Alpha rhythm for the understanding of higher
attention processes of human brain precisely. K-means clustering
investigates and defines that the group of converted waves data
has a variable effective level rely on each classified group, which
female with lower BMI has a higher effect on L-theanine than
male apparently. In conclusion, the results promise the Ltheanine
significantly affects on meditation by increasing in
Alpha waves on each person that beneficially supports
production proven of Oolong tea in the future.
Figures - uploaded by Phakkharawat Sittiprapaporn
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... Different types of brainwaves[19] ...
Digital technology has absolutely transformed the teaching way in which learning is imparted to students. Unlike campus-based traditional lessons, e-learning makes learning simpler and beneficial for everyone in our society. This article summarizes teaching machines in its history by suggesting possible applications to education and its influence on the human brain. Authors briefly review teaching machines from mechanical to the digital era, describe Pressey and Skinner machines and as well as digital computers. This research also investigates how the human brain is wired to learning and recommends implementing e-learning environments for personal development in the education system. E-learning has become quite popular and appreciated among students and teachers worldwide because of its wide accessible benefits.
... Brainwave Frequencies and Descriptions [12]. ...
Oolong tea has L-theanine acid, which have an impact on human brain wave activity, especially for memorization and meditation. To describe the change in the mentioned states, it requires investigating theta and alpha waves. Higher attention frequency of brain waves indicates an improvement mental activity. Therefore, this study proposes a method to identify the effect level of L-theanine acid in Oo-long tea focused on changing memorization and meditation states individually. It performs the detection of electroencephalography (EEG), statistical analysis, and data classification with specific factors to digest the distinct effect levels. The human brain waves are detected via Neurosky Mindwave Mobile during the book reading state, comparing before drinking and after drinking conditions. The detected signals are converted into voltage values and analyzed a paired sample t-test for defining the difference between the two states statistically. Moreover, an artificial neu-ral network is used to classify the effect level with associated factors including gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) into low, medium, and high levels. It provides 90% accuracy of 17 participants with low, 13 participants with medium, and 6 participants with high levels. The experimental results show that the level of both memorization and meditation is statistically significantly increased after drinking. The instances are presented as scattered data separately. Although L-theanine in Oolong tea increases the mental state, it does not involve the specific factors in this study. Hence, it has different effects on a particular person.
... Fig. 1. NeuroSky Mindwave Mobile [18] It also works with the Neurosky Experimentor application for determining the value of attention and relaxation during the class. The attention meter algorithm of this equipment refers to the intensity of brain focusing, attention value. ...
Human has sustainability to concentrate about 45-50 minutes, approximately. The student who spent a long time during the class without a break is decreasing the brain learning ability. Taking mental breaks every 45 minutes is considered as stress reduction and prepared for better learning. However, a person has a different level to maintain a focus on learning, which is longer or shorter. The well-established information for manipulating this problem is necessary to support the instruction and teaching planning. Therefore, this study proposes the method to define the learning state of each student via brain cognitive performance identification and information technology innovations. The brain signals of students are recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) during studying. Due to the performance values are presented under the specific neuroscience criteria, the Decision Tree algorithm is chosen to perform learning state classification and description. The results present the several levels of cognitive performance including low, neutral, good, and high level, which is related to the learning ability of a student. The student who has low cognitive performance will be noticed to have a mental break before class ends appropriately. The classification method provides 87% of accuracy, which is acceptable to support the implementation of the decision tree with neuroscience in this study.
In a not-so-distant future, astronauts will venture to expand our civilization deeper into the solar system. Beyond the Earth-Moon system, the next palpable destination for human explorers is Mars. A roundtrip deep space mission to our planetary neighbor will take about 1000 days. Living in an isolated habitat for such a prolonged period of time may impact the crew's psychological wellbeing. When the astronauts travel to explore Mars for the first time, we may not foresee all the psychological risks the crew may face. In order to reduce these uncertainties, it may be necessary to develop tools and devices that could enhance the crew's wellbeing, by addressing their higher-level needs beyond basic physiological and psychological needs. In this paper we introduce a portable and personal inhaler device that produces geosmin-a molecule-from dry soil to generate petrichor that could help the crew with combatting depression. Inhaling petrichor could have a therapeutic effect on depression and boost certain chemicals in the brain, similar to serotonin and norepinephrine, thereby functioning as a natural antidepressant. It could even provide the comfort of home by triggering memories associated with Earth, while being far away in space. Hence being space-grounded. We consider this artifact to be a personal item that is created through considerations for human centered design, aesthetics, form and function, materiality, in addition to the therapeutic aspects by boosting certain chemicals in the brain. We discuss our processes of developing the device, including a study of petrichor, address psychological wellbeing, and describe the ideation process, prototyping, and demonstration of the device. We hope that our radical idea will stimulate thoughts and discussions for space habitat designs for the future of deep space exploration, focusing on the personal experiences of the astronauts.
Mindfulness meditation has been taken as a method to release the short and long terms of stress and anxiety. A questionnaire was investigated to measure the effect of mental change as well as the changing of brain signals while doing the mindfulness meditation. Ten healthy-young participants were recruited to investigate the effect of mindfulness meditation compare with self-relaxation. Brain activities from participants were recorded during practicing mindfulness meditation using Electroencephalogram (EEG) with 10-20 system of electrode placements. A questionnaire with 30 questions was applied to estimate meditation depth. The differences between self-relaxation and mindfulness-meditation were analyzed according to meditation depth and brain activities recorded with EEG. Compared with self-relaxation, mindfulness-meditation reduces hindrance and increases the level of relax. Although subjects were subjectively unaware of the calmness during mindfulness-meditation practice, compared with self-relaxation, the recorded data suggested that mindfulness meditation reduces the short term induced tension, indicated by the significant increment of theta and alpha power spectrum of brain activities along the time.
Background
L-theanine, an amino acid contained in green tea leaves, is known to block the binding of L-glutamic acid to glutamate receptors in the brain, and has been considered to cause anti-stress effects by inhibiting cortical neuron excitation. Both L-theanine and caffeine, which green tea contains, have been highlighted for their beneficial effects on cognition and mood.
Methods
In this study, we investigated the effects of orally administered L-theanine or caffeine on mental task performance and physiological activities under conditions of physical or psychological stress in humans. Fourteen participants each underwent three separate trials, in which they orally took either L-theanine + placebo, caffeine + placebo, or placebo only.
Results
The results after the mental tasks showed that L-theanine significantly inhibited the blood-pressure increases in a high-response group, which consisted of participants whose blood pressure increased more than average by a performance of a mental task after placebo intake. Caffeine tended to have a similar but smaller inhibition of the blood-pressure increases caused by the mental tasks. The result of the Profile of Mood States after the mental tasks also showed that L-theanine reduced the Tension-Anxiety scores as compared with placebo intake.
Conclusions
The findings above denote that L-theanine not only reduces anxiety but also attenuates the blood-pressure increase in high-stress-response adults.
The novel wake-promoting agent modafinil has been in use for the treatment of several sleep disorders for a few years and is now undergoing clinical trials for its use in the treatment of stimulant addiction, but its primary mechanism of action remains elusive. Previous laboratory studies have shown that modafinil has antioxidative and neuroprotective effects, which have not previously been suggested to be related to its wake-promoting effects. However, recent research indicates that free radicals may be related to sleep induction as well as cellular damage, suggesting that a common target of action may mediate modafinil's ability to oppose both of these effects. In this review we summarize and discuss previously published research on modafinil's neural, cytoprotective, and cognitive effects, and we propose possible primary biochemical targets that could underlie the effects of modafinil observed in these studies. We also suggest neurocognitive mechanisms responsible for modafinil's cognitive enhancing effects and its therapeutic potential in the treatment of stimulant addiction.
Background:
Caffeine and L-theanine are pharmacologically important constituents of tea, especially due to their effects on the central nervous system. The effects of these two compounds are opposite: While caffeine is a well-known stimulant, theanine has a relaxing effect. Tea processing may influence the caffeine and theanine content of tea leaves.
Objective:
The aim of our work was to quantify these constituents from a set of commercial products to reveal the possible correlations of caffeine and theanine content and processing methods.
Materials and methods:
Theanine and caffeine contents of 37 commercial white, green, oolong, black, and pu-erh tea samples were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector.
Results:
The mean L-theanine content of white, green, oolong, and black teas were 6.26, 6.56, 6.09, and 5.13 mg/g, respectively. The same values for caffeine content were 16.79, 16.28, 19.31, and 17.73 mg/g.
Conclusion:
Though the effect of processing on theanine content was evident, quantification for these analytes does not seem to be a good criterion to discriminate the different types of tea. Caffeine content provided no information on the effect of processing, and the theanine content of the samples was rather variable, independently from the type of the tea. The quantitative analysis of caffeine and theanine is essential to assess the stimulating effect of the tea, however, for chemical profiling further secondary metabolites have to be determined.
Summary:
Thirty-seven commercial white, green, oolong, black, and pu-erh tea samples were analyzed for caffeine and theanine contentWhile the caffeine content was similar, the theanine contents of black teas were slightly lower and practically zero in pu-erhThe great variability of these two compound within the tea categories allows no discrimination of tea types based solely on theanine and caffeine quantificationContrary to the previous data, the way of processing has no determining effect on theanine content. FigureAbbreviations used: CZE: Capillary zone electrophoresis, DAD: Diode array detector, EEG: Electroencephalography, GC: Gas chromatography, HPLC: High-performance liquid chromatography, IR: Infrared spectroscopy, MEKC: Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography, MS: Mass spectrometry, RP: Reversed phase, RSD: Relative standard deviation, SD: Standard deviation, TLC: Tile liquid chromatography, UV: Ultraviolet.
L-theanine is a free (non-protein) amino acid found almost exclusively in tea plants (Camellia sp.), constituting between 1 and 2-percent of the dry weight of tea leaves. It is the predominant amino acid in green tea leaves, giving tea its characteristic umami or "5th taste" (besides the four traditional tastes: sweet, salty, acid, and bitter). Attempts to isolate the L-theanine, with its physical and neurological benefits, from the tea leaves were once difficult, expensive, and inefficient. Economically feasible methods of producing the identical L-theanine now exist and do not require a mountain of tea leaves. Physiological Effects The calming effect of green tea may seem contradictory to the stimulatory property of tea's caffeine content but it can be explained by the action of L- theanine. This amino acid actually acts antagonistically against the stimulatory effects of caffeine on the nervous system. (1) Research on human volunteers has demonstrated that L-theanine creates a sense of relaxation in approximately 30- 40 minutes after ingestion via at least two different mechanisms. First, this amino acid directly stimulates the production of alpha brain waves, creating a state of deep relaxation and mental alertness similar to what is achieved through meditation. Second, L-theanine is involved in the formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). GABA influences the levels of two other neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, producing the key relaxation effect. (2)
Since ancient times, it has been said that drinking green tea brings relaxation. The substance that is responsible for a sense of relaxation, is theanine. Theanine is a unique amino acid found almost solely in tea plants and the main component responsible for the exotic taste of ‘green’ tea. It was found that L-theanine administered intraperitoneally to rats reached the brain within 30 min without any metabolic change. Theanine also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and decreased blood pressure significantly in hypertensive rats. In general, animals always generate very weak electric pulses on the surface of the brain, called brain waves. Brain waves are classified into four types, namely α,β,δ and θ-waves, based on mental conditions. Generation of α-waves is considered to be an index of relaxation. In human volunteers, α-waves were generated on the occipital and parietal regions of the brain surface within 40 min after the oral administration of theanine (50–200 mg), signifying relaxation without causing drowsiness. With the successful industrial production of L-theanine, we are now able to supply Suntheanine™ (trade name of L-theanine) which offers a tremendous opportunity for designing foods and medical foods targeting relaxation and the reduction of stress. Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd, Japan won the 1998 ‘Food Ingredient Research Award’ for development of Suntheanine™ at Food Ingredients in Europe (Frankfurt). The judges felt it was a particularly well-documented and fascinating piece of research.
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water. Tea is known to be a rich source of flavonoid antioxidants. However tea also contains a unique amino acid, L-theanine that may modulate aspects of brain function in humans. Evidence from human electroencephalograph (EEG) studies show that it has a direct effect on the brain (Juneja et al. Trends in Food Science & Tech 1999;10;199-204). L-theanine significantly increases activity in the alpha frequency band which indicates that it relaxes the mind without inducing drowsiness. However, this effect has only been established at higher doses than that typically found in a cup of black tea (approximately 20mg). The aim of the current research was to establish this effect at more realistic dietary levels. EEG was measured in healthy, young participants at baseline and 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105 minutes after ingestion of 50mg L-theanine (n=16) or placebo (n=19). Participants were resting with their eyes closed during EEG recording. There was a greater increase in alpha activity across time in the L-theanine condition (relative to placebo (p+0.05). A second study replicated this effect in participants engaged in passive activity. These data indicate that L-theanine, at realistic dietary levels, has a significant effect on the general state of mental alertness or arousal. Furthermore, alpha activity is known to play an important role in critical aspects of attention, and further research is therefore focussed on understanding the effect of L-theanine on attentional processes.
Oolong Tea Benefits the Brain
- J Axe
J. Axe (2017). Oolong Tea Benefits the Brain, Heart, Skin & More.
Retrieved Nov 15, 2017, from https://draxe.com/oolong-tea-benefits/
Hot Water for Tea: An inspired collection of tea remedies and aromatic elixirs for your mind and body, beauty and soul
- N Salter
N. Salter (2014). Hot Water for Tea: An inspired collection of tea
remedies and aromatic elixirs for your mind and body, beauty and soul.
IN: Archway Publishing.