Many people feel like they need coffee in the morning to get going. The Portuguese research team found that this is at least partly a placebo effect.

When researchers examined the brains of coffee drinkers before and after drinking caffeine or a cup of coffee, they made a curious discovery: They showed for the first time that coffee activates networks in the brain that prepare people for the transition from rest to work. Coffee also increased activity in parts of the brain associated with working memory, cognitive control, and goal-directed action. Put simply, participants were more prepared and more alert after drinking coffee. What was surprising, however, was that this effect did not occur when the subjects only took caffeine tablets. That means caffeine alone isn't enough to get you ready — you need a cup of coffee.
 
"Because some of the effects we observed were due to caffeine, we can assume that other caffeinated beverages also have some of these effects. However, other effects were specific to coffee, due to factors such as the beverage's specific aroma and flavor or.” . the psychological expectations associated with the consumption of this beverage," explained Dr. Maria Picó-Pérez from the Jaume I University.
 
Scientists even suspect that decaffeinated coffee could have a similar activating effect. Another reason for the popularity of morning coffee may be that it relieves withdrawal symptoms in habitual coffee drinkers. However, this was not tested in the study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.