Caffeine Has Little to No Benefit After 3 Nights of Sleep Restriction

Summary: Study identifies new patterns of gene expression that drives long-term memory formation.

Source: AASM.

New study shows caffeine is not sufficient to prevent performance decline long term.

A new study found that after restricting sleep to 5 hours per night, caffeine use no longer improved alertness or performance after three nights.

Results show that relative to placebo, caffeine significantly improved Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) performance during the first 2 days, but not the last 3 days of sleep restriction.

“We were particularly surprised that the performance advantage conferred by two daily 200 mg doses of caffeine was lost after three nights of sleep restriction,” said lead author Tracy Jill Doty, PhD, research scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. “These results are important, because caffeine is a stimulant widely used to counteract performance decline following periods of restricted sleep. The data from this study suggests that the same effective daily dose of caffeine is not sufficient to prevent performance decline over multiple days of restricted sleep.”

Image shows a cup and coffee beans.
Sleep was restricted to five hours of time in bed for a total of five days. Participants were administered either 200 mg of caffeine or a placebo twice daily. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Monday, June 13 and Tuesday, June 14, in Denver at SLEEP 2016, the 30th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS).

The study group consisted of 48 healthy individuals who participated in a double blind, placebo-controlled study. Sleep was restricted to five hours of time in bed for a total of five days. Participants were administered either 200 mg of caffeine or a placebo twice daily. A cognitive task battery was administered hourly during the wake periods and included a 10-minute PVT, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS). A modified Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (mMWT) was administered six times per day.

About this sleep research article

Funding: The study was supported by the Department of Defense Military Operational Medicine Research Program.

Source: Amy Pyle – AASM
Image Source: This NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: The researchers will present their findings at Sleep 2016 in Denver on June 13 and 14.

Abstract Title: Caffeine Efficacy Across a Simulated 5-day Work Week with Sleep Restriction
Abstract ID: 0254
Presentation Date: Monday, June 13 (Poster) Tuesday, June 14 (Oral)
Presentation Type: Oral and Poster
Presentation Time: (Poster) 4:00 pm- 6:00 pm and (Oral) 11:50 am 12:05 pm

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]AASM. “Caffeine Has Little to No Benefit After 3 Nights of Sleep Restriction.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 13 June 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/sleep-restriction-caffeine-4451/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]AASM. (2016, June 13). Caffeine Has Little to No Benefit After 3 Nights of Sleep Restriction. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved June 13, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/sleep-restriction-caffeine-4451/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]AASM. “Caffeine Has Little to No Benefit After 3 Nights of Sleep Restriction.” https://neurosciencenews.com/sleep-restriction-caffeine-4451/ (accessed June 13, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]

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