Study Claims Coffee Hinders Your Brain’s Recovery From Sleep Deprivation

Researchers have discovered that excessive coffee consumption can suppress the brain’s ability to recover from chronic sleep deprivation. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance globally, with two-thirds of American adults drinking coffee daily. The drug works by blocking the receptors for adenosine, which promotes sleepiness. However, one in three adults in the U.S. is not getting enough sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Just one night of sleep deprivation has been shown to decrease volumes of gray matter in the brain, particularly in regions involved in memory, sensation perception, and conscious thought. It is unclear how consecutive nights of sleep restriction might impact this change in gray matter and how our brains act to recover.

A study recruited 36 healthy adults with an average age of 29 and studied MRI data taken at three points throughout the study. The researchers found that chronic sleep deprivation was associated with an increase in gray matter in various regions of the brain in the decaf drinking group, suggesting that our brain’s way of adapting to and counteracting the negative effects of sleep deprivation. However, those in the caffeine-drinking group showed reductions in gray matter in these brain regions.

The study revealed reversible cortical plasticity in frontal, temporal-occipital, and thalamic gray matter in response to chronic sleep restriction, which can be suppressed or reversed by concomitant caffeine intake.

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