The right way to consume your caffeine
An interesting article from FuturePundit (c/o Marginal Revolution):
Scientists Demonstrate Best Way To Use Caffeine
I've heard this before, but this has a little depth to it, even though I think their article is lacking in many ways. The article mentions two different systems that induce feelings of sleepiness, the circadian system driven by rhythms (you get sleepy at your usual bedtime) and the homeostatic system driven by progression (you get sleepier the longer you've been awake). They say that caffeine is thought to work because it suppresses the functionality of the latter system; they don't say anything about the former. Their experiment involved using an extended day (28 hours awake in a 42 hour period), which they say "disrupts" the circadian rhythm as well as increasing the homeostatic (progressive) sleepiness. Frequent low doses of caffeine demonstrate a marked improvement versus placebos.
Their experiment does nothing to separate caffeine's effects on the two systems, since you could suppose that the sleepiness was caused not just by being awake extra long but also by being awake during the body's natural sleep time. It's really hard to imagine separating homeostatic sleepiness from circadian, because any time you're staying awake longer than usual you're also staying awake through your normal sleeping time. One could, however, isolate circadian sleepiness from homeostatic sleepiness - take a nap. The experiment could involve people taking naps during the afternoon and then staying awake late into the night. Testing the effects of caffeine consumption in this state would actually mean something; if caffeine helped, then it clearly affects at least circadian sleepiness. If not, then it only affects homeostatic (since we know it affects something).
Furthermore, the experiment does not in any way address the common caffeine consumption method, large morning doses. Yes, if you can somehow show that caffeine primarily helps homeostatic sleepiness, then it could make sense to consume more caffeine later. But how long does the caffeine take to wear off? Perhaps it's still effective later, or somehow keeps the progressive sleepiness from progressing (i.e. while the caffeine is in your system your homeostatic sleepiness register stays at a constant). I need some sort of cognitive functioning comparison in an ordinary setting (so that people aren't worn out by circadian disruptions) between two groups, the heavy-caffeine-in-the-morning group and the low-caffeine-throughout-the-day group.
Scientists Demonstrate Best Way To Use Caffeine
I've heard this before, but this has a little depth to it, even though I think their article is lacking in many ways. The article mentions two different systems that induce feelings of sleepiness, the circadian system driven by rhythms (you get sleepy at your usual bedtime) and the homeostatic system driven by progression (you get sleepier the longer you've been awake). They say that caffeine is thought to work because it suppresses the functionality of the latter system; they don't say anything about the former. Their experiment involved using an extended day (28 hours awake in a 42 hour period), which they say "disrupts" the circadian rhythm as well as increasing the homeostatic (progressive) sleepiness. Frequent low doses of caffeine demonstrate a marked improvement versus placebos.
Their experiment does nothing to separate caffeine's effects on the two systems, since you could suppose that the sleepiness was caused not just by being awake extra long but also by being awake during the body's natural sleep time. It's really hard to imagine separating homeostatic sleepiness from circadian, because any time you're staying awake longer than usual you're also staying awake through your normal sleeping time. One could, however, isolate circadian sleepiness from homeostatic sleepiness - take a nap. The experiment could involve people taking naps during the afternoon and then staying awake late into the night. Testing the effects of caffeine consumption in this state would actually mean something; if caffeine helped, then it clearly affects at least circadian sleepiness. If not, then it only affects homeostatic (since we know it affects something).
Furthermore, the experiment does not in any way address the common caffeine consumption method, large morning doses. Yes, if you can somehow show that caffeine primarily helps homeostatic sleepiness, then it could make sense to consume more caffeine later. But how long does the caffeine take to wear off? Perhaps it's still effective later, or somehow keeps the progressive sleepiness from progressing (i.e. while the caffeine is in your system your homeostatic sleepiness register stays at a constant). I need some sort of cognitive functioning comparison in an ordinary setting (so that people aren't worn out by circadian disruptions) between two groups, the heavy-caffeine-in-the-morning group and the low-caffeine-throughout-the-day group.
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