Approximately 80% of the population worldwide consume caffeine. In adults, the acute effects of the stimulant on sleep-wake regulation are rather well described, e.g. as enhancement of alertness, reduction of sleep pressure and changes in circadian rhythmicity. Although teenagers might be particularly vulnerable for such disturbances of sleep-wake regulation, the effects of the stimulant in this age group have not yet been systematically investigated. Moreover, in adults, it is unclear whether sleep-wake regulation adapts to daily caffeine intake and how this process is mirrored in brain structure and functions.

CURRENT STATE

Currently, three multimodal projects involving national and international collaborations are ongoing. One Swiss National Science Foundation project (SNSF) focuses on the influence of acute caffeine intake on teenager’s sleep and brain functions. A second SNSF project employs EEG and MRI to investigate the effects of habitual caffeine intake on sleep-wake regulation and brain plasticity in adults. Recently, Yu-Shiuan Lin received an SNSF doc.mobility fellowship and will work in a PET-MR project with the Dep. of Molecular Imaging at Forschungszentrum Jülich. There we will examine the joint effect of habitual caffeine consumption and chronic sleep restriction on adenosine modulation and brain plasticity. Results derived from these projects are released in progress.

PEOPLE

MSc students: Maria Grab, Joshua Kistler, Simon Veitz, Rowena Waldis

Former interns: Miriam Bühler, Sven Leach, Andrea Schumacher, Laura Tincknell

COLLABORATION

(Intra-institutional)

Prof. Stefan Borgwardt, Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Basel, Switzerland

Link: https://neuropsychiatry.unibas.ch/en/home/

Prof. Dr. phil. Oliver Bieri Paravicini and Dr. Francesco Santini, Department of Radiological Physics, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

Link: https://www.unispital-basel.ch/ueber-uns/bereiche/medizinische-querschnittsfunktionen/kliniken-institute-abteilungen/departement-radiologie/kliniken-institute/klinik-fuer-radiologie-und-nuklearmedizin/ueber-uns/abteilungen-und-aussenstellen/radiologische-physik/

Prof. Katharina Rentsch and Sophia Rehm, Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

Link: https://www.unispital-basel.ch/ueber-uns/bereiche/medizinische-querschnittsfunktionen/kliniken-institute-abteilungen/labormedizin/pers/katharina-rentsch/

(Inter-institutional)

Prof. Hans-Peter Landolt, Chronobiology and Sleep Research group, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, Switzerland

Link: https://www.pharma.uzh.ch/en/research/chronobiology/areas/chronobiology.html

PD Dr. med. David Elmenhorst, Molecular Imaging group, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Link: https://www.fz-juelich.de/inm/inm-2/EN/Forschung/Neuroimaging/Molecular_Plasticity/_node.html

Prof. Christopher Gerner and Dr. Samuel Meier, Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Austria

Link: https://anchem.univie.ac.at/en/

FUNDING

Our projects are funded by the SNSF:

• SNSF project: “Influence of Caffeine Consumption on the Human Circadian System: Neurobehavioral, Hormonal and Cerebral Mechanisms” (Carolin Reichert, Yu-Shiuan Lin, Janine Weibel)
• SNSF Marie Heim-Voegtlin grants: “Caffeine-induced effects on sleep, cognitive performance, and underlying cerebral correlates during adolescence” (Carolin Reichert)
• SNSF doc.mobility: “The Influence of Chronic Caffeine Consumption and Sleep Restriction on Adenosine and Brain Morphometry in Humans: A PET-MR Study” (Yu-Shiuan Lin)

PUBLICATIONS

Journal paper

Weibel, J., Lin, Y. S., Landolt, H. P., Garbazza, C., Kolodyazhniy, V., Kistler, J., Rehm, S., Rentsch, K., Borgwardt, S., Cajochen, C., Reichert, C. F. Caffeine-dependent changes of sleep-wake regulation: Evidence for adaptation after repeated intake. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, 99, 109851, doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109851 (2019).

Lin, Y.S., Weibel, J., Landolt, H.-P., Santini, F., Meyer, M., Borgwardt, S., Cajochen, C., Reichert, C.  Caffeine-induced Plasticity of Grey Matter Volume in Healthy Brains: A placebo-controlled multimodal within-subject study. bioRxiv, 804047, doi:10.1101/804047 (2019).

Conference paper

Lin, Y.-S., Weibel, J., Landolt, H.-P., Santini, F., Garbazza, C., Meyer, M., Slawik, H., Borgwardt, S., Cajochen, C., Reichert, C. Daily Caffeine Consumption Reduces Human Grey Matter in Hippocampus Independent of Sleep Pressure. Clocks&Sleep, 1, 414–434; doi:10.3390/clockssleep1040033 (2019).

Reichert, C., Veitz, S., Lin, Y.-S., Weibel, J., Garbazza, C., Meyer, M., Slawik, H., Cajochen, C. Evening Caffeine Intake Induces Alertness in Teenagers, but Does Not Affect Melatonin Levels. Clocks&Sleep, 1, 414–434; doi:10.3390/clockssleep1040033 (2019).