With exams and midterms fast approaching, there’s only one thing that can combat the dreaded study fatigue: caffeine, and lots of it. Caffeine, which is most commonly consumed through coffee, is the most frequently used psychoactive drug. It releases dopamine, and is said to increase concentration, decrease fatigue and improve memory.
Matthew Holahan, a Carleton University professor of psychology and neuroscience, said the main purpose of drinking coffee, especially among students, is “to fight off fatigue.”
He went on to explain that caffeine also improves cognitive perception, which allows for better learning, and potentially a better memory.
“But caffeine will often lead to state-dependent learning, where the brain needs coffee for cognitive function,” Holahan said.
If you consume caffeine when you’re studying for an exam, you will likely perform best during the exam if you drink caffeine beforehand, he explained. It is also hard to judge how much caffeine is too much for the body to handle.
Every person is different, but Holahan advised no more than four to five cups in a five-hour period. High levels of caffeine can lead to insomnia, which in turn causes the cognitive functions to suffer, he said.
Though drinking coffee on a full stomach will slow the effects that caffeine has on the body, once it has been broken down, Holahan said caffeine will produce metabolites that can increase anxiety, nausea, and even cause trembling. These negative symptoms are especially prone to happening in stressful situations, like studying for exams.
The body does, however, build up a sort of physiological tolerance after consuming coffee regularly, and the negative effects do start to become less frequent. The body then calls for more caffeine to fight off fatigue and improve cognitive functions.
“For me, I drink three cups in the morning, but I used to only drink one,” Holahan explained.
Some studies have shown that drinking coffee on a long-term basis can lead to protection against migraines, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, and even diabetes.
Caffeine also causes different reactions based on age. Older people tend to be more affected by caffeine. There are also gender differences in caffeine consumption because of the variation in body size between men and women.
This is what makes it so difficult to judge the right amount of caffeine for optimum performance.
So here’s what the doctor recommended: “know your limits!”
Many people don’t understand “the complexities of how caffeine works,” Holahan said.
Going over the tipping point usually only leads to negative effects. Instead, Holahan recommended combining exercising with studying.
“Every so often, just get up and walk around,” he said.
Holahan also mentioned that taking caffeine pills can help, but they tend to be much more dangerous because they contain a significantly higher dosage of caffeine compared to the average cup of coffee, which contains approximately 111 milligrams of caffeine.
Tea is a perfect compromise, he said, since it contains less caffeine than coffee, and is therefore a slower intake of a dose.
“Really, you just need to learn to balance it out,” Holahan said. When it comes to drinking coffee in preparation for an exam, “practice first, because there is no harm in testing,” he said.
