Caffeine is by far one of the most wildly used psychoactive substances today. For many people their daily lives somehow revolve around the consumption of caffeine, whether it is a cup of coffee in the morning or an energy drink for a mid-day energy boost. A group of researchers recently set out to study the caffeine’s effect of mental alertness and performance. They would then also see how the effects of caffeine withdrawal would affect individuals.
The population for the study was 369 people who had shown evidence that they were regular caffeine users. The age range for the participants was between eighteen and sixty two years of age. The participants were then categorized as either nonsmokers or light smokers. Individuals were also categorized but the amount of caffeine they consumed by placing them into two categories of “non-low” and “medium-high”. Participants were then administered a caffeine pill took take at nine thirty every morning. They were told to abstain from caffeine use from seven pm onward until the next day. After they received there caffeine pill participants were then given a series of test throughout the day to gauge there alertness and reaction time.
The study saw that caffeine withdrawal was associated with detrimental effects in the morning. Subjects experiencing caffeine withdrawal showed signs greater sleepiness, lowered alertness and poor reaction time during the morning tests. Caffeine was shown to increase subjects functioning abilities and alertness in the “medium-high” group. However these results were not seen in the “non-low” group.
source:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-012-2889-4/fulltext.html
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