The 3 Most Important Psychological Effects Of Caffeine
Caffeine is the most consumed psychotropic drug worldwide. Surely, most of us consume caffeine regularly (or if not, have consumed it at some time in our lives). But, Do we know what the psychological effects of caffeine really are?
In this article we will try to answer this question, through a review of recent scientific literature. We will see how its main effects occur in: convergent thinking (problem solving) and improvement in attention and concentration.
Before delving into the psychological effects of caffeine, let’s see what exactly this substance consists of. Caffeine, as most of us will know, is found primarily in coffee; is about an alkaloid of the xanthine group, which acts as a psychoactive drug Caffeine is absorbed and quickly passes to our brain; Thus, it does not accumulate in the blood nor is it stored anywhere in the body. It is excreted through urine.
The main effect of caffeine on our brain is the stimulation and/or excitation of the central nervous system , through a non-selective antagonist mechanism of adenosine receptors. It is for this reason that many people consume caffeine to combat short-term fatigue or drowsiness. In addition, caffeine also acts as a diuretic substance (helps our body eliminate fluids).
Where is caffeine extracted from? Mainly, from certain types of plants, although it can also be synthesized artificially.
Psychological effects of caffeine
What are the psychological effects of caffeine? To answer this question, let’s look at a recent study that analyzes its effects on different cognitive processes.
As we have seen, caffeine is about a psychotropic drug; specifically, the most consumed in the world The main psychological effects of caffeine are: increased alertness and wakefulness, improved mood, and improved concentration and attention. Some studies even talk about a possible effect of caffeine on creative thinking.
1. Concentration and attention
The results of the study that we are going to analyze (Zabelina & Silvia, 2020) show how caffeine consumption produces greater concentration and attention.
This study used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, between subjects who consumed 200 mg of caffeine (approximately a large cup of American coffee) vs. those who did not consume it (placebo group).
The study focused on analyzing the effects of caffeine on two types of thinking: convergent thinking (problem solving) and divergent or creative thinking (generation of creative ideas).
At a general level, the psychological effects of caffeine shown in this study are that caffeine significantly improves problem solving, although its effects on the generation of creative ideas and/or working memory are not so clear (there are no improvements ), as discussed below.
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the study controlled the expectations of the participants so that their belief of having consumed caffeine or not did not alter the results
2. Troubleshooting
The aforementioned study (Zabelina & Silva, 2020) showed how caffeine consumption (200 mg) was associated with better results in problem solving (specifically, faster resolution). This, in turn, was related to an improvement in the speed of information processing
The psychological effects of caffeine manifested in this study are in line with that of other previous ones, such as the research by Rao et al., 2005.
Furthermore, these studies also establish that caffeine consumption is related to an improvement in problem solving (at a general level, regardless of whether the approach is more analytical or more global) and in other higher-order cognitive processes (for example, response inhibition).
The improvement of attention takes shape, among others, in visual tasks that require the use of selective attention These results are related to greater activity in the prefrontal area of the brain.
3. Creative thinking
Do the psychological effects of caffeine also extrapolate to creative thinking? Regarding this type of thinking (also called divergent thinking), a priori, the aforementioned study shows how caffeine did not affect the generation of creative ideas.
On the other hand, it is known that this type of thinking is related to greater alpha activity in the brain (related, in turn, to relaxation and network inhibition). Caffeine reduces alpha activity, so it would be expected that this substance would reduce the generation of divergent thinking
However, the results are not clear, since another line of work reports complex interactions that occur between “top-down” cognitive processes and “bottom-up” processes. during divergent thinking.
Mixed results
Regarding the psychological effects of caffeine on creative or divergent thinking, it is not clear if it has any type of effect on it.
Of course, according to the study analyzed, it may also be that the amount of caffeine administered to the participants (200 mg) is not sufficient to produce a relevant effect on the generation of ideas during divergent thinking. It is anticipated that larger amounts (for example 400 mg) would negatively affect this type of thinking, making it difficult.
One fact is worth mentioning, and that is that the test used to evaluate divergent thinking in the study by Zabelina & Silva (2020), called ATTA (battery of divergent thinking tasks), It may be that it reflects primarily the number of creative ideas that people can generate, and not so much the quality of those ideas
This deserves to be taken into account since it could “alter” the results, in the sense that the effects of caffeine would be null to generate many ideas, but that the few generated could be very good.
Placebo effect in the study
In Zabelina & Silva’s study, some participants did not take the caffeine capsule, but rather a placebo capsule.
In relation to this, it was seen how the participants who consumed the caffeine capsule They were equally likely to guess whether their capsule was caffeine or placebo (that is, the same probabilities of being wrong); The placebo capsule participants, however, were more likely to be correct (saying their capsule was placebo).
What is interesting about this information? These results are in line with what previous literature on the subject says (Griffiths et al., 1990), and that is that discrimination in this sense is reduced after consuming caffeine.
