When using caffeine, alertness increases; We drink caffeinated drinks every morning in order to quickly and efficiently overcome obstacles that arise during the day. However, the function of the brain and nervous system depends on many factors, and many details are still unclear to science. Excessive caffeine intake also causes brain changes that contradict the expected effects and impairs the ability to learn. Large amounts of caffeine harm flexibility and can inhibit the brain’s ability to rewire itself to receive new information.
The effect of caffeine on the brain is more interesting than we thought
Collaborators at the Neuromodulation Research Institute at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, analyzed brain signals related to learning and memory storage in 20 people, and their findings challenge the hypothesis that caffeine use promotes plasticity.
“Preliminary data highlight the need to directly test the effects of caffeine in robust, prospective trials Chronic caffeine consumption can limit learning Or plasticity,” the researchers wrote in the published study.
Caffeine has a stimulating effect by blocking a compound called adenosine in the brain. Adenosine’s job is to create a feeling of drowsiness, so by inhibiting it, caffeine increases alertness.
Adenosine also affects a process called long-term potentiation (LTP), which aims to strengthen connections between neurons in the brain. Scientists believe that this brain process is the key to absorbing new information and applying it at the right time.
Learning abilities may be affected by caffeine
During the research, caffeine use was examined in 16 people, who had to consume 1-5 servings of caffeinated beverages per day. The trial also included a control group of four people who did not receive caffeine-containing preparations. They then measured LTP in the volunteers’ brain using a special method through the electrical activity of neurons. In those who did not consume caffeinated beverages, these LTP effects appear to be much stronger.
According to researchers, regularly stimulated caffeine causes an antagonistic effect in the brain that could explain the reduced level of plasticity, but this is still just a theory.
However, the study had limitations: on the one hand, only 20 people were examined, and on the other hand, the research relied on self-reported caffeine doses, which means that the researchers cannot know exactly the effect of different doses of caffeinated drinks. Long-term brain processes.
The effect of caffeine on health is indeed very complex, and according to research, its consumption has both positive and negative consequences: for example, it can protect against dementia, prevent some tumors, prevent dry eyes, and at the same time increase the risks. Diabetes and reduced gray matter.
The researchers set the recommended daily amount of caffeine at 200 mg, which is the amount that can be consumed safely. Excessive caffeine intake is certainly not beneficial: for example, the caffeine content in energy drinks is very high, and it is easy to overdose if you are not careful, in which case declining learning abilities will be the least of our problems.
Symptoms of consuming too much caffeine include irritability, headache, insomnia, rapid heartbeat, restlessness, indigestion, difficulty speaking, and flushing.
