Does caffeine help in very little sleep?

For example, does it make sense to resort to caffeine after a night’s sleep to counteract the negative effects of sleep deprivation and thus avoid mistakes at work?

A recent study by researchers at Michigan State University investigated whether caffeine has the potential to reduce procedural error rates due to sleep deprivation in the workplace. The study was published in the English-language magazine “Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition“Published.

Caffeine only helps up to a point

Researchers led by Kimberly Fenn, a psychology professor at the Sleep and Learning Lab at Michigan State University, looked at how well caffeine helps balance the negative effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. In fact, caffeine intake only helps up to a point.

For the study, more than 275 people were asked to complete a simple meditation task as well as a more challenging task that required completing the steps in a specific order without skipping or repeating the steps, Team report

“We found that sleep deprivation performed poorly in both types of tasks, and that caffeine intake helped people successfully complete easy tasks,” the study’s author, Professor Fenn, explains. However, for most participants there was little effect on the performance of the more demanding task.

Caffeine does not prevent procedural errors

Expert says, “Caffeine can improve the ability to stay awake and focus on a task, but it doesn’t do much to prevent the kind of procedural errors that can cause things like medical errors and car accidents. . “

Caffeine reduces drowsiness and improves mood

“Caffeine increases energy, reduces drowsiness, and can also improve mood, but it is by no means an alternative to a full night’s sleep. Even if people find that caffeine sleep Can help fight their lack of performance, so their performance on high-level tasks will still be affected. This is one reason why sleep deprivation can be so dangerous, ”Professor Fenn explains in a Press release Der Michigan State University.

“If we found that caffeine significantly reduced procedural errors in sleep-deprived conditions, it would have far-reaching effects for those who perform high-effort procedures on inadequate sleep, such as surgeons, pilots, and police officers. Instead “Our results underscore the importance of prioritizing sleep,” says the expert. (As)