The cure for sleep deprivation is pretty simple: sleep more. Sometimes, though, a cheeky little napsipoo just isn’t in the cards and an energy boost is necessary. That’s what coffee is for, at least in the short term. But a new study finds that, while coffee may provide that kick pick-me-up, it may be adversely affecting the brain’s ability to recover from chronic sleep deprivation.
As reported by Newsweek, this latest study was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports. In it, a cohort of Swiss and German researchers sought to examine the effects of caffeine affects the total volume of grey matter in the brain.
Prior research has found that even one night with insufficient sleep can decrease the amount of grey matter in the brain, “particularly in regions involved in memory, sensation perception, and conscious thought.” Meanwhile, daily caffeine consumption has also been shown to reduce grey matter in the outer areas of the brain and the regions used for long-term memory storage. Thus, the researchers hypothesized that using caffeine as a means to counteract sleep deprivation-associated tiredness may be exacerbating the decreased volume of grey matter.
To test this, the researchers examined 36 healthy adults as part of a nine-day study, whereby the participants would undergo one adaption day, two baseline days, then five sleep-deprived days—defined as having only five hours of sleep—followed by a recovery day. Participants were split into two groups: 19 who consumed three cups of coffee a day, amounting to 300mg of caffeine, and 17 who consumed the same amount of decaf coffee.
Over the course of the nine days, participants underwent three different MRI scans of their brain. They found that for those in the decaf group, the overall volume of grey matter actually increased when compared to the baseline readings. But for those that consumed caffeinated coffee, the total grey matter in those brain regions was reduced.
These findings suggest, according to the researchers, that the increased grey matter volume in the decaf group is our brain’s way of counteracting the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. Drinking caffeine, then, is stymying the body’s ability to adapt.
“This study revealed reversible cortical plasticity in frontal, temporal-occipital, and thalamic gray matter in response to chronic sleep restriction. This plastic response, however, can be suppressed or reversed by concomitant caffeine intake,” the researchers surmise.
So while coffee can help provide an extra bit of energy and focus after a night of insufficient slumber, it is not a suitable solution in the long term. The only way to overcome sleep deprivation is, well, sleep. Maybe a coffee nap?
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
