Effects of Caffeine and Noise on Mood, Performance and Cardiovascular Functioning

✍ Scribed by ANDREW SMITH; HELEN WHITNEY; MARIE THOMAS; KATE PERRY; PIP BROCKMAN

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 125 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199701/02)12:1<27::aid-hup827>3.0.co;2-y

✦ Synopsis

An experiment was conducted to examine the eects of caeine and noise on mood, mental performance and cardiovascular function. One hundred and six young adults (mean age 21 . 2 years) took part in the study. Subjects were assigned to one of six groups formed by combining noise/quiet and drink (caeinated coee, decaeinated coee and fruit juice) conditions. Subjects were familiarized with the tasks and then completed a pre-drink baseline session (conducted in the quiet). Subjects were then given either caeinated coee (1 . 5 mg/kg caeine), decaeinated coee or fruit juice. Following consumption of the drink subjects were re-tested 1 h later, either in noise (75 dBA conglomerate noise, consisting of speech, music and machinery noise) or in quiet. The subjects exposed to noise felt more anxious and showed an increase in blood pressure. Their performance of a cognitive vigilance task also declined over time. There were no signi®cant main eects of caeine, although simple reaction time was quickest in the caeinated coee group. Caeine did not modify the eects of noise on mood, cardiovascular functioning or sustained attention. Indeed, the only interaction between drinks and noise was found in recall and recognition memory tasks, with the caeine/noise group having better memory performance than the decaeinated/noise subjects. Overall, the results show that low levels of caeine do not increase the behavioural and physiological changes observed in a stressful situation.