Consuming coffee before bed is generally considered to be a no-no. You can go from tired to wired in the time it takes to slug an espresso, and it may be next to impossible to get a little shut eye in the near future (coffee naps excluded, which is an insanely fine needle to thread and I don’t think anyone actually does it). But say you are able to get to sleep. How would that pre-bedtime coffee affect your brain function?
That’s what researchers from the University of Montreal recently sought to discover, and the results—as you may or may not be surprised to learn—were less than ideal.
As reported by Medical Xpress, the study appeared in a recent edition of the journal Communications Biology. In it, they examined how “caffeine can modify sleep and influence the brain’s recovery—both physical and cognitive—overnight.” The researchers recorded the brain activity of 40 adults while they slept using an electroencephalogram for two nights: one where the individuals were given caffeine pills three hours and one hour before bedtime and one where they were given placebos.
Then, using “advanced statistical analysis and artificial intelligence to identify subtle changes in neuronal activity,” the researchers found that ingesting caffeine before bed increased brain signal complexity and enhanced “criticality” during sleep.
Generally speaking, criticality is a good thing. One of study’s authors Karim Jerbi describes it as a goldilocks brain state that is “balanced between order and chaos.” It is the middle ground where brain activity is organized while also being flexible, allowing the brain to “process information efficiently, adapt quickly, learn and make decisions with agility.”
During the day, criticality is beneficial. Being more awake and alert are positives. But at night, criticality keeps the brain from resting and being able to relax and recover.
Researchers also found that caffeine reduced theta and alpha wave activity, which are associated with deep, restorative sleep. Meanwhile, beta wave activity, associated with wakefulness, were increased. These effects were more significant in younger people, ages 20-27, than those 41-58. This suggests that younger individuals may be more susceptible to the stimulant effects of caffeine.
You probably don’t need a whole entire study to know you don’t sleep all that well when you drink coffee right before bed, but you’ve got one anyway. At least now you know a little bit more of the science behind why your sleep sucked.
This top photo was not generated by AI. This is a real photo from a 2019 surrealist stock series from Volodymyr Melnyk / Adobe Stock.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
