Effects of a single, oral 60 mg caffeine dose on attention in healthy adult subjects

I wonder if this dose would be helpful in stroke subjects. Are you getting diagnosed with cognitive impairment just because you can't stay focused on a task? If I would have been tested during my first week in the hospital I would have been considered totally impaired. I fell asleep during a speech therapist session. Of course I had been awake for three straight days in the ER.

Effects of a single, oral 60 mg caffeine dose on attention in healthy adult subjects

1. Micha MM Wilhelmus1,3
2. Justin L Hay1
3. Rob GJA Zuiker1
4. Pieter Okkerse1
5. Christelle Perdrieu2
6. Julien Sauser2
7. Maurice Beaumont2
8. Jeroen Schmitt2
9. Joop MA van Gerven1⇑
10. Beata Y Silber2

1. ¹Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR), Leiden, the Netherlands
2. ²Nestle Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland
3. ³Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

1. Joop MA van Gerven, Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR), Zernikedreef 8, 2333CL Leiden, The Netherlands. Email: JvanGerven@chdr.nl

Abstract

Caffeine induces positive effects on sustained attention, although studies assessing the acute effects of low caffeine dose (<75 mg) on sustained attention are limited and use short-term tests. Therefore, we investigated the acute effects of a 60 mg dose of caffeine on sustained attention in tests lasting up to 45 minutes using 82 low or non-caffeine-consuming healthy male (n=41) and female (n=41) adults aged between 40 and 60 years. Vigilance was measured using Mackworth Clock test, Rapid Visual Information Processing Test, adaptive tracking test, saccadic eye movement and attention switch test. Effects on mood and fatigue were analysed using Bond and Lader and Caffeine Research visual analogue scales, and Samn–Perelli questionnaire. Saliva sampling was performed for both compliance and caffeine pharmacokinetic analysis. Administration of a 60 mg caffeine dose resulted in a significant improvement in sustained attention compared with the placebo. Also a significantly improved peak saccadic velocity and reaction time performance was found, and decreased error rate. Significantly increased feelings of alertness, contentment and overall mood after caffeine treatment compared with placebo were observed. This study demonstrated that in healthy adult subjects oral administration of a single 60 mg caffeine dose elicited a clear enhancement of sustained attention and alertness, measured both in multiple objective performances and in subjective scales.