Coffee Hit Does Nothing for Mental Alertness Study Claims

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Scientists in Bristol suggest that caffeine makes no difference to levels of alertness.

New research has shown that the “morning coffee fix” does nothing to make drinkers more alert or awake.

Scientists from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol found that there was no advantage to be had from drinking coffee or other caffeinated drinks when it came to overall alertness. Moreover, regular coffee drinkers were dependent on a caffeine hit simply to bring them up to the same level of alertness as non-coffee drinkers.

A group of 379 test subjects went without any caffeine stimulant for 16 hours before being given either a caffeine pill or a placebo. Subjects in the study were then asked to perform a number of simple tests in order to gauge their memory, vigilance and attentiveness.

The results showed that there was little difference in performance between those who had been given caffeine and those who had taken the placebo. On the other hand, regular coffee drinkers who took the placebo fared showed greater signs of anxiety and complained of headaches without their caffeine fix.

Rather than waking people up, the study suggests that coffee only acts to counteract the withdrawal symptoms of taking caffeine from the previous day. “Someone who consumes caffeine regularly when they’re at work but not at weekends runs the risk of feeling a bit rubbish by Sunday,” commented Professor Peter Rogers, who led the research.

Professor Rogers told The Daily Telegraph: “Although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal. It’s better to stick with it or keep off it altogether.”

The study was published in the Neuropyschopharmacology journal on 2 June 2010.