Acute Caffeine Effect on Repeatedly Measured P300

ABSTRACT

The acute effect of a single−dose of caffeine on the P300 event−related brain potential (ERP) was assessed in a study using a repeatedly presented auditory oddball button−press task. A dose (5mg/kg body−weight) of either caffeine or placebo lactose, dissolved in a cup of decaffeinated coffee, was administered double−blindly to coffee drinkers who had abstained from coffee for 24hrs, with the presentation order of the sessions counterbalanced and separated by 2−4 weeks. The caffeine−treatment condition demonstrated a smaller P300 amplitude and a shorter latency overall than the placebo treatment condition. The mean P300 amplitude value difference (caffeine minus placebo) increased with the successive trial blocks. Caffeine ingestion appears to yield a lower resource−consumption and a net increase in allocating attention resources for task performance across repeated measurements.