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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Study of Nervous System > A randomized double-blind crossover test: drinking coffee does not affect sleep, but it changes the structure of the brain...

    A randomized double-blind crossover test: drinking coffee does not affect sleep, but it changes the structure of the brain...

    • Last Update: 2021-03-25
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Every morning, for those who have exhausted all their energy before entering the office door, a cup of coffee is simply a "life extension" drink.

    Drinking a cup of coffee is refreshing for a while, will it continue to be refreshing if you keep drinking it? Especially at night, won't insomnia make getting up early the next day more difficult.

    Recently, in a new study published in "Cerebral Cortex", a research team led by the University of Basel in Switzerland found through a randomized double-blind crossover test that regular coffee (with caffeine) does not affect sleep quality.
    But it will change the brain structure related to memory.

    However, this effect seems to be temporary.

    Caffeine is a xanthine alkaloid compound that can act as a central nervous stimulant, which can drive away sleepiness in a short time and make you feel refreshed.

    Clinically, caffeine is also used to treat neurasthenia and coma resuscitation.

    Coffee, tea, cola and functional drinks containing caffeine have been loved by consumers all over the world.

    However, if you drink too much or drink coffee at a later time, you may cause insomnia, and the resulting lack of sleep will have a negative impact on the brain and the body.

    Previous studies have shown that lack of sleep affects the volume of gray matter in the brain.

    Gray matter is an important part of the central nervous system, which is formed by a large number of neuron cell bodies and their dendrites.
    Another important part is white matter, which is composed of nerve fibers with different functions.

    So, drinking coffee, or rather, does caffeine consumption really make you suffer from insomnia? To this end, the research team of the University of Basel launched a randomized double-blind crossover controlled trial.
    20 healthy volunteers were included in the study.
    They all have the habit of drinking coffee every day.The researchers randomly divided the participants into two groups and gave them two 10-day courses of treatment, and asked them not to take other caffeine during this period.

    During the first 10 days, one group of participants took caffeine-containing pills (3×150 mg/day), and the other group of participants took placebo pills (3×150 mg/day) without active ingredients; During the 10 days of the second phase, the two groups were exchanged.

    Seeing this, someone might ask, how much caffeine does a cup of coffee contain? It is estimated that a cup of 100ml of freshly ground coffee contains 150mg of caffeine; a cup of drip coffee contains 135mg; a cup of instant coffee contains 110mg; a cup of espresso contains 64mg; a cup of decaf coffee contains 8mg; a cup of black tea contains 47mg; a cup of green tea contains 36mg; a cup of white tea contains 24mg (see picture below).

    In fact, it is more difficult to accurately tell the caffeine content of each type of coffee.

    Because coffee beans vary according to the degree of roasting, the caffeine content also changes accordingly.

    Lightly roasted coffee beans are denser and have higher caffeine content; while dark roasted coffee beans have a more mellow taste but lower caffeine content.

    In addition, the brewing time is also related, the longer the brewing time, the higher the caffeine content.

    Therefore, for the caffeine-containing tablets (3×150 mg/day) taken by the participants in this trial, it is indeed the equivalent of a daily overdose of coffee.

    At the beginning of the study and at the end of each phase of the experiment, the researchers checked the participants' gray matter volume and cerebral blood flow through brain scans.
    They also used EEG activity to quantify the pressure of slow-wave sleep to investigate their sleep quality.

    Slow wave sleep is the sleep in a deep sleep state.
    At this time, people enter a deeper state of unconsciousness.

    The results of the study were surprising.
    Compared with the placebo group, the caffeine group showed a significant reduction in the volume of gray matter in the medial temporal lobe after 10 days of brain scans.

    This area also includes the hippocampus, which is essential for learning, emotion, and memory consolidation.

    Compared with the placebo group, the cerebral blood perfusion of the caffeine group was reduced.

    Moreover, the greater the reduction in gray matter volume, the higher the individual caffeine and paraxanthine concentrations.

    Paraxanthine is a product of the purine degradation pathway.

    However, there is no difference in slow wave sleep under different conditions, and it has nothing to do with the reduction of gray matter caused by caffeine.

    In other words, caffeine intake did not cause the participants' sleep quality to decrease.

    Therefore, these data do not indicate a link between deep sleep after daily caffeine intake and changes in brain morphology.

    Researchers say that daily caffeine intake may cause neuroplasticity in the medial temporal lobe, but this depends on the individual's metabolic process.

    The corresponding author of the study, Dr.
    Carolin Reichert, Department of Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, said: "Our findings do not necessarily mean that caffeine intake will have a negative effect on the brain, but daily caffeine intake does.
    It affects the areas responsible for cognitive function, which deserves further research.

    "Although caffeine may reduce the volume of gray matter in the brain, studies have found that if you stop taking caffeine, this change will not last long.

    The researchers said that after taking the placebo for 10 consecutive days, the participants' gray matter increased significantly.

    So far, the main research object of caffeine's health effects has been people with health problems.

    The author stated that there is less information about the effects of caffeine on healthy humans.

    Reichert concluded: "The changes in brain structure seem to be temporary, but so far, we lack a systematic comparison of coffee drinkers and those who usually consume little or no caffeine.

    ”Link to the paper: https://doi.
    org/10.
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