A whiff of coffee -- the world's most widely consumed beverage -- may do the same job as a sip of coffee by altering the activity of some genes in the brain, reducing the effects of sleep deprivation, an international group of scientists reports.

Scientists have conducted numerous studies that investigate both the beneficial and adverse effects that coffee can have on health, from the antioxidants it possesses to the possible detriments of too much caffeine.

But "there are few studies that deal with the beneficial effects of coffee aroma," said study leader Han-Seok Seo, of the Seoul National University in South Korea.

Seo and his colleagues allowed lab rats, some of which were stressed by sleep deprivation, to inhale the aroma of coffee. The researchers then compared the expression of certain genes and proteins in the rats' brains. Some of the genes expressed in the coffee-sniffing, stressed rats expressed proteins that have healthful antioxidant properties known to protect nerve cells from stress-related damage. Their stressed out counterparts who weren't allowed to smell coffee didn't show these gene expressions.

Their findings are detailed in the June 25 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The study was partially funded by the Winter Institute Program of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation and the Japan-Korea Industrial Technology Foundation.

(Agencies via Xinhua June 19, 2008)