What a cup of coffee does to your brain
一杯咖啡，对大脑做了什么？- I made a 62-second animation that draws caffeine’s wake-up effect as a game of “seat-saving”: after a cup of coffee you feel ready to work again, but your brain may not have actually rested.
- Feeling alert and being rested are two different things. The one line I most want to leave you with: don’t mistake “not sleepy” for “slept enough.”
- ChatGPT helped me talk through the topic and script, Codex helped with the code animation and rendering, and the voiceover is AI-generated; I had a hand in deciding the direction, the visual choices, and the final review.
3 p.m. I’ve read the same line three times.
After a cup of coffee, I feel like I can work again.
But did my brain actually get any rest?
I turned this into a little game of “seat-saving.”
In 62 seconds, a look at why caffeine wakes you up—and why feeling alert and being rested are two different things.
The one line I want to leave you with: don’t mistake “not sleepy” for “slept enough.”
What time do you usually have your last cup of coffee?
How it was made: ChatGPT helped me talk through the topic and script, and Codex helped with the code animation and rendering; the voiceover is AI-generated. I had a hand in deciding the direction, the visual choices, and the final review.
The visuals are simplified illustrations; the five-hour half-life is just an example, and it varies a lot from person to person. Sources: NHLBI (NIH), EFSA.
Written in Chinese and translated into English with the help of AI. Read the original