Abstract

Caffeine is widely used to promote alertness and cognitive performance under challenging conditions, such as sleep loss. Non-digestive modes of delivery typically reduce variability of its effect. In a placebo-controlled, 50-h total sleep deprivation (TSD) protocol we administered four 200 mg doses of caffeine-infused chewing-gum during night-time circadian trough and monitored participants' drowsiness during task performance with infra-red oculography. In addition to the expected reduction of sleepiness, caffeine was found to disrupt its degrading impact on performance errors in tasks ranging from standard cognitive tests to simulated driving. Real-time drowsiness data showed that caffeine produced only a modest reduction in sleepiness (compared to our placebo group) but substantial performance gains in vigilance and procedural decisions, that were largely independent of the actual alertness dynamics achieved. The magnitude of this disrupting effect was greater for more complex cognitive tasks.

Details

Title
Caffeine may disrupt the impact of real-time drowsiness on cognitive performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled small-sample study
Author
Aidman, E 1 ; Balin, M 2 ; Johnson, K 2 ; Jackson, S 3 ; Paech, G M 4 ; Pajcin, M 5 ; Yates, C 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mitchelson, E 2 ; Kamimori, G H 6 ; Fidock, J 2 ; Della, Vedova C 5 ; Banks, S 4 

1  Defence Science and Technology Group, Edinburgh, Australia (GRID:grid.431245.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 0385 5290); University of Sydney, School of Psychology, Sydney, Australia (GRID:grid.1013.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 834X); University of Newcastle, School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy, Callaghan, Australia (GRID:grid.266842.c) (ISNI:0000 0000 8831 109X) 
2  Defence Science and Technology Group, Edinburgh, Australia (GRID:grid.431245.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 0385 5290) 
3  University of Sydney, School of Psychology, Sydney, Australia (GRID:grid.1013.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 834X) 
4  University of South Australia, Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Group, Justice and Society, Adelaide, Australia (GRID:grid.1026.5) (ISNI:0000 0000 8994 5086) 
5  University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences, Adelaide, Australia (GRID:grid.1026.5) (ISNI:0000 0000 8994 5086) 
6  Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Behavioral Biology Branch, Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience Research, Silver Spring, USA (GRID:grid.507680.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2230 3166) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83504-6
ProQuest document ID
2490397983
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.