Amir Khcharem

University of Sfax, Tunisia

Title: Effects of caffeine ingestion on 8-km run performance and cognitive function after 26 hours of sleep deprivation

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Biography

Abstract

Background: Caffeine is frequently consumed by athletes to maintain alertness in conditions of sleep loss. However, the effect of caffeine ingestion after total sleep deprivation on aerobic exercise remains questionable.

Objectives: The current study aimed to examine the effects of caffeine consumption on physical and cognitive performance after an endurance race following one night of sleep deprivation.

Methods: Ten recreational runners performed four test sessions in a randomized order at 09:00 h after placebo or 5 mg/kg of caffeine ingestion during a baseline night (BN) (bedtime: from 22:30 h to 07:00 h) or a night of total sleep deprivation (TSD) (26 hours of continuous wakefulness). At each session, they completed an 8-km running competition around a 400m outdoor athletics track, and they performed the correct detection and reaction-time tasks.

Results: In comparison with BN, performance-time and reaction-time increased, and correct detections decreased after the TSD condition. Compared to placebo, caffeine ingestion improved 8-km performance-time by 48 sec (2.8%) after BN and 108 sec (4.9%) after TSD, increased correct detections after BN (p < 0.01) and TSD (p < 0.05), and decreased reaction-time after BN (p < 0.001) and TSD (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Caffeine is an effective strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of total sleep deprivation on physical and cognitive performance.