Caffeine is a compound that is commonly used as a stimulant in sodas, energy drinks and nutritional supplements that boost energy and awareness. Caffeine has many effects on your body and can influence the balance of chemicals in your brain. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter produced by your brain, is considered a mood elevator and is primarily responsible for your brain's reward system. Caffeine may influence the production of, and subsequent effects by, dopamine on your body.
Caffeine and Dopamine Production
As a stimulant, caffeine readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, a natural protective shell that surrounds your brain and keeps out potentially harmful toxins. Once inside the brain, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, which regulate dopamine production. By blocking the actions of your brain's adenosine receptors, dopamine production increases. In the August 2002 issue of the "Journal of Neuroscience," researchers found that caffeine affects your brain in much of the same ways that certain amphetamines do, and can increase dopamine production significantly.
Dopamine's Effect on Your Body
Dopamine is considered to be both a neurotransmitter and a neurohormone because it is involved in both central nervous system functions as well as physiological functions throughout your body. Dopamine affects your body physiologically by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, which is already further increased with caffeine intake. Neurologically, dopamine is typically released during rewarding experiences, such as pleasurable food, sex and drugs, including caffeine, that can create neural stimuli that potentially create a dependence on them. High levels of dopamine are commonly associated with feelings of great pleasure, happiness, and joy as a chemical response to a neural stimulus such as caffeine.
Short-Term Effects of Caffeine on Dopamine
Within minutes of ingesting caffeine, your blood will shuttle it to your brain, where the caffeine can begin to inhibit adenosine receptors and stimulate dopamine production. As a result, your heart rate and blood pressure will increase, giving you a temporary feeling of increased energy and arousal. The physical and mental effects of an increase in dopamine production may make you more susceptible to form a dependency on caffeine, because it makes your body feel aware and excited.
Long-Term Effects on Dopamine
Consuming caffeine every day may create a caffeine dependency or addiction. Going without caffeine can give you symptoms of amphetamine withdrawals, such as headaches and nausea. Long-term caffeine use also leads to chronically elevated levels of dopamine in your brain. Dopamine levels that are consistently elevated above normal for long periods of time may contribute to the severity of some mental illnesses, such as anxiety. As a result, caffeine is not recommended for individuals who suffer from psychosis and schizophrenia because caffeine may increase the severity of the symptoms associated with these mental illnesses.
References
- "Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements"; Jose Antonio, Douglass Kalman, Jeffrey R. Stout, and Mike Greenwood; 2008
- "Physiology of Sport and Exercise"; Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill; 2004
- Pub Med; Caffeine Induces Dopamine and Glutamate Release in the Shell of the Nucleus Accumbens; M. Solinas et. al; 2002
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