Why the Brain Experiences Caffeine-Withdrawal Symptoms

As any caffeine “addict” will tell you, getting off the substance for even a short period of time may result in a number of unpleasant symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, feeling less energetic and alert, as well as difficulties in concentrating. By combining readings from electroencephalograms, electrical activity in the brain, and blood-flow patterns, researchers from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have sought out to explain exactly why caffeine withdrawal occurs, and how it can be prevented.

In a scientific study, published recently in an online edition of the journal Psychopharmacology, they explain that the goal of their research was to find out what was happening inside the brain of test subjects deprived of caffeine at a psychological level. As a result, they only examined the brains of those going through acute caffeine abstinence, so as to get the most conclusive results possible.

The team set up a double-blind study in order to test the participants, and divided them into two groups, without their knowledge. Some of the test subjects received caffeine capsules, whereas the others only got a placebo pill. Then, three scientific methods were used to assess the effects of the drugs on the brain. The electrical activity inside the brain was assessed via EEG readings, ultrasounds were used to analyze blood flow, and the participants themselves were asked to report on their ongoing condition via a number of questionnaires.

“In addition to looking at caffeine withdrawal, this rigorous design also permitted comparison of chronic caffeine maintenance with chronic placebo maintenance, which provides unique information about the extent to which there are net beneficial effects of daily caffeine administration,” University of Vermont research Associate Professor of Psychiatry Stacey Sigmon, PhD, explained.

“In contrast to what most of us coffee lovers would think, our study showed no difference between when the participant was maintained on chronic placebo and when the participant was stabilized on chronic caffeine administration. What this means is that consuming caffeine regularly does not appear to produce any net beneficial effects, based on the measures we examined,” Sigmon, who has also been the first author of the new paper, added.