In a new study, researchers have shown that a single dose of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound with potential applications for depression, prompted long-lasting increase in connections between neurons in mice.
For some people, psilocybin, an active compound in ‘magic mushrooms’, can produce a profound mystical experience. The psychedelic was a staple of religious ceremonies among indigenous populations of the Americas and is also a popular recreational drug. It has been the subject of some interest in treating depression. But exactly how it works in the brain and how long beneficial results might last is still unclear. “We not only saw a 10% increase in the number of neuronal connections, but also they were on average about 10% larger, so the connections were stronger as well,” reported senior author Alex Kwan, associate professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience at Yale.
Earlier work had found promising evidence that psilocybin, as well as the anaesthetic ketamine, could decrease depression. This new study found that these compounds increase the density of dendritic spines, which are small protrusions found on nerve cells which aid in the transmission of information between neurons. The number of these neuronal connections are known to be reduced by chronic stress and depression.
Prof Kwan and first author Ling-Xiao Shao, a postdoctoral associate, imaged dendritic spines in high resolution with a laser-scanning microscope, and tracked them for multiple days in living mice. They found increases in the number of dendritic spines and in their size within 24 hours of administration of psilocybin. These changes were still evident a month later. Also, mice subjected to stress showed behavioural improvements and increased neurotransmitter activity after being given psilocybin.
It may be the novel psychological effects of psilocybin itself that spurs the growth of neuronal connections, Kwan said.
“It was a real surprise to see such enduring changes from just one dose of psilocybin,” he said. “These new connections may be the structural changes the brain uses to store new experiences.”
Scientists have uncovered an unexpected link between a synapse protein that has been implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders and the endocannabinoid pathway.
These findings suggest a role for the endocannabinoid system in conditions including bipolar disorder, according to Peter Penzes, PhD, the Ruth and Evelyn Dunbar Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, and senior author of the study.
“The endocannabinoid system could be disrupted in patients with bipolar disease, or it could be the opposite: medical marijuana could have therapeutic potential for these patients,” said Prof Penzes, who is also director of the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment. “These are the questions that need to be answered.”
Cannabis mimics naturally occurring endocannabinoids in the brain, which is how it produces its effect in humans. Since the specific function of endocannabinoids is still not fully understood, the legalisation of marijuana in many US states has prompted more investigation into its biological pathways, Prof Penzes said. The endocannabinoid system is a widespread neuromodulatory system that plays important roles in central nervous system (CNS) development, synaptic plasticity, and the response to endogenous and environmental insults.
Endocannabinoids are produced by an enzyme known as diacylglycerol lipase alpha (DAGLA), which is concentrated in synapses. Endocannabinoids dampen synaptic strength, which is why marijuana has calming effects.
Prof Penzes and colleagues have previously studied ankyrin-G, another synapse protein which regulates transmission speed across synapses. Aberrant over- or under-expression of ankyrin-G has been associated with disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism.
Studying mice with ankyrin-G genetically deleted, they made a surprising discovery: Ankyrin-G seemed to stabilise DAGLA at synapses, increasing the efficiency of DAGLA.
“It’s a delicate mechanism that regulates dendritic spine morphology,” said lead author Sehyoun Yoon, PhD, research assistant professor of Physiology.
These findings comport with another recent study, led by investigators at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in Nature Genetics. The study showed that both DAGLA and ankyrin-G (ANK3) are risk genes for bipolar disorder in a genome analysis of over 40,000 patients.
“It’s almost like somebody who is leading a double life, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Prof Penzes said. “Ankyrin-G has this entire separate function.”
The convergence of ankyrin-G with the endocannabinoid pathway opens up an entire new world of possibilities, both for investigating disease risk and possible therapies.
“Cannabis may contribute to increased risk for mental disorders, which has actually been shown in schizophrenia,” Prof Penzes said. “Conversely, cannabis could be beneficial in some brain disorders, which prompted trials of medical marijuana in patients with autism.”
Prof Penzes said in future he plans to examine the downstream effects of this biological pathway, both in normal subjects and in disease.
A survey published in The BMJ has found that in UK practices, over half (52%) of GP staff face abuse while working on the COVID vaccination programme.
The Medical Protection Society (MPS) survey of 222 GP practice staff , which included GPs, nurses, and practice managers, also found that over half (53%) of staff said that their surgery or vaccination centre had been defaced by anti-vaccination material. GP practices in the UK had been offering COVID vaccinations since December 2020.
One respondent said, “Staff of all disciplines are leaving the profession in droves because of the behaviour of the public creating unbearable working situations. Morale is the lowest I have ever known, anyone near retirement is retiring early.” Another said, “Abuse—especially written and posted in the prescription box on the gate—has resulted in staff being very concerned for their safety at the surgery.”
About two-thirds of respondents (60%) said that abuse and complaints relating to the UK’s COVID vaccination programme had affected their own or their team’s mental wellbeing. A further 71% said that the increased workload resulting from the programme has impacted their wellbeing.
Pallavi Bradshaw, medicolegal lead for risk prevention at MPS, said that GP practices were in the firing line over patient frustrations with the vaccination programme. “GPs are mentally and physically exhausted, with the risk of disillusionment and burnout higher than ever,” Bradshaw said. “Wellbeing support must be provided to all GP surgery staff who are feeling overwhelmed and demoralised, and a zero tolerance policy of abuse must be enforced across the NHS so healthcare workers feel their safety is a priority.”
Cannabis use among young adults was associated with increased risks of thoughts of suicide (suicidal ideation), suicide plan, and suicide attempt, according to a population analysis.
These associations remained regardless of whether someone was also experiencing depression, and the risks were greater for women than for men. The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
“While we cannot establish that cannabis use caused the increased suicidality we observed in this study, these associations warrant further research, especially given the great burden of suicide on young adults,” said senior author NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD. “As we better understand the relationship between cannabis use, depression, and suicidality, clinicians will be able to provide better guidance and care to patients.”
The number of cannabis-using adults in the US more than doubled from 22.6 million in 2008 to 45.0 million in 2019. Over the same period the number of adults with depression also increased, as did those reported suicidal ideation or who committed suicide. However the link between cannabis and suicidality is not well understood.
Setting out to address, NIDA researchers examined data from the 2008-2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). NSDUH collects nationally representative data among the US civilian population age 12 or older on cannabis use and use disorder, depression, suicidality, and other behavioural health indicators. In addition to determining the associations between these factors, the researchers examined whether the associations varied by gender. They examined data from 281 650 young adults ages 18 to 35 years, the age range where most mood and substance use disorders emerge.
Four levels of past-year cannabis use were compared: no cannabis use; nondaily cannabis use; daily cannabis use (use on at least 300 days per year); and presence of cannabis use disorder, assessed on specific criteria for a pattern of continued cannabis misuse. The prevalence of major depressive episodes based on specific diagnostic criteria measured through the survey was used to measure depression. To identify suicidality trends, the tean separately assessed the trends in the prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt as reported in the 2008-2019 NSDUH surveys.
The study found that even nondaily cannabis users were more likely to have suicidal ideation and to plan or attempt suicide than complete non-users. These associations remained regardless of comorbid depression. In people without a major depressive episode, about 3% of those who did not use cannabis had suicidal ideation, compared with about 7% of those with nondaily cannabis use, about 9% of those with daily cannabis use, and 14% of those with a cannabis use disorder. In people with depression, 35% of non-users had suicidal ideation, compared to 44% of nondaily cannabis users, 53% of daily cannabis users, and 50% of those with cannabis use disorder. Similar trends existed for the associations between different levels of cannabis use and suicide plan or attempt.
Additionally, the researchers found that women with any cannabis use were more likely to have suicidal ideation or report a suicide plan or attempt than men with the same levels of cannabis use. For example, among individuals without major depressive episode, the prevalence of suicidal ideation for those with vs without a cannabis use disorder was 13.9% vs. 3.5% among women and 9.9% vs. 3.0% among men. In individuals with both cannabis use disorder and major depressive episode, the prevalence of past-year suicide plan was 52% higher for women (23.7%) than men (15.6%).
“Suicide is a leading cause of death among young adults in the United States, and the findings of this study offer important information that may help us reduce this risk,” explained lead author Beth Han, MD. PhD, MPH, from NIDA. “Depression and cannabis use disorder are treatable conditions, and cannabis use can be modified. Through better understanding the associations of different risk factors for suicidality, we hope to offer new targets for prevention and intervention in individuals that we know may be at high-risk. These findings also underscore the importance of tailoring interventions in a way that take sex and gender into account.”
According to a new study from Germany, heatwaves may increase aggressive patient behaviour in mental health wards.
Studies have shown an association between increased temperature and the incidence of violent crimes, accounting for about 10% of the variance in one study in Finland. This effect has also been seen within the context of American Football games, with more penalties for aggressive behaviour given for visiting teams on hotter days.
Researchers from ZfP Südwürttemberg and Ulm University in Germany drew on local weather data and incident reporting data to examine the impact of hot weather on mental health inpatient wards.
They discovered that there were an average of 15% more aggressive incidents on days over 30°C (9.7 per day) compared to days under 30°C (8.4 per day).
A clear relationship was also seen between the temperature of hot days (those over 30°C) and the number of aggressive incidents. As the temperature increased, the higher the rate of incidents, which reached a peak of 11.1 on the very hottest days (over 33.5°C).
The findings suggest that temperature is the cause of the increase in incidents, rather than another factor. No equivalent correlation was found between temperature on hot days and the use of restrictive practices by hospital staff.
Staff recorded aggressive incidents according to a standardised protocol, documenting the nature of the aggression (eg physical, verbal), the target (eg staff, patients), the impact and any subsequent measures taken.
The data for the study came from six German mental health hospitals and covered 13 years (2007-2019), 1007 beds and 164 435 admissions. Over this period, there were a total of 207 days over 30°C. All six hospitals were built according to modern building standards, but all lacked air-conditioning.
Lead author Dr Hans Knoblauch said: “The climate emergency means that many areas of the world could experience significantly more hot weather in the future.
“While more research into the mental health consequences is needed, these findings could have practical implications for mental healthcare, particularly around hospital design and architecture.”
His colleague, Professor Tilman Steinert, from Ulm University, commented: “These findings highlight an underappreciated impact of the climate emergency on mental health services. Increased aggression is an indicator of increased distress and an environment that is failing to help patients recover.
“Urgent action is now needed, to replicate the findings of this study using more measurements within mental health hospitals, to invest in those hospitals, and to tackle the climate crisis. Mental health patients deserve better.”
Researchers have revealed two subgroups of self-harming adolescents and have shown that those self-harming risk can be identified almost a decade before they begin self-harming.
The team, based at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, found that while sleep problems and low self-esteem were common risk factors, there were two distinct profiles of young people who self-harm – one with emotional and behavioural difficulties and a second group with different risk factors.
Between one in five and one in seven adolescents in England self-harms, such as by cutting themselves. Though self-harm is a significant risk factor for later suicide attempts, many do not plan suicide but face other harmful outcomes, including repeatedly self-harming, poor mental health, and risky behaviours like substance abuse.
Despite its prevalence and lifelong consequences, there has been little progress in the accurate prediction of self-harm, and until recently, little research in the area.
Drawing from a nationally representative UK birth cohort of approximately 11 000 individuals, the Cambridge team picked out adolescents who reported self-harm at age 14. With machine learning analysis, they were able to establish profiles of self-harming young people, with different emotional and behavioural characteristics. This information enabled them to identify risk factors present in early and middle childhood.
Since the data tracked the participants over time, the researchers could distinguish factors that appear at the same time reported self-harm, such as low self-esteem, from those that came before it, such as bullying.
The analysis showed that there were two distinct subgroups among young people who self-harm, with significant risk factors manifesting as early as age five, almost a decade before self-harming. Both groups were likely to experience sleep difficulties and low self-esteem reported at age 14, but other risk factors differed between the two groups.
The first group tended to have a long history of poor mental health, as well as bullying before self-harming. Their caregivers were also more likely to have their own mental health issues.
With the second group, however, self-harming was harder to predict early in childhood. One of the key signs was a greater willingness to take part in risk-taking behaviour, linked to impulsivity. Research suggests that these tendencies may make the individuals less likely to consider alternatives to self-harm. Relationship factors with their peers were also important for this subgroup, including feeling less secure with friends and family at age 14 and worrying more about the feelings of others as a risk factor at age 11.
First author Stepheni Uh, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, explained: “Self-harm is a significant problem among adolescents, so it’s vital that we understand the nuanced nature of self-harm, especially in terms of the different profiles of young people who self-harm and their potentially different risk factors.
“We found two distinct subgroups of young people who self-harm. The first was much as expected – young people who experience symptoms of depression and low self-esteem, face problems with their families and friends, and are bullied. The second, much larger group was much more surprising as they don’t show the usual traits that are associated with those who self-harm.”
The findings suggest the possibility of predicting who is most at risk of self-harm up to a decade in advance, creating a window of opportunity for intervention.
Principal investigator Dr Duncan Astle said: “The current approach to supporting mental health in young people is to wait until problems escalate. Instead, we need a much better evidence base so we can identify who is at most risk of mental health difficulties in the future, and why. This offers us the opportunity to be proactive, and minimise difficulties before they start.
“Our results suggest that boosting younger children’s self-esteem, making sure that schools implement anti-bullying measures, and providing advice on sleep training, could all help reduce self-harm levels years later.
“Our research gives us potential ways of helping this newly-identified second subgroup. Given that they experience difficulties with their peers and are more willing to engage in risky behaviours, then providing access to self-help and problem-solving or conflict regulation programmes may be effective.”
Journal information: Uh, S et al. Two pathways to self-harm in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2021.03.010
The World Health Organization has released new guidance that aims to put an end to abuse of people in psychiatric care by embracing community-based mental healthcare.
Around the world, most mental health care continues to be provided in psychiatric hospitals, and human rights abuses and coercive practices remain widespread. But providing community-based mental health care that is both respectful of human rights and focused on recovery is proving successful and cost-effective, according to new guidance released today by the World Health Organization.
The Life Esidimeni tragedy highlights the importance of providing adequate care to mental health patients. Mental health care recommended in the new guidance should be located in the community, and which also supports day-to-day living, such as facilitating access to accommodation and links with education and employment services.
WHO’s new “Guidance on community mental health services: promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches” further affirms that mental health care must be grounded in a human rights-based approach, as recommended by the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2020-2030 endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2021.
Faster transition needed “This comprehensive new guidance provides a strong argument for a much faster transition from mental health services that use coercion and focus almost exclusively on the use of medication to manage symptoms of mental health conditions, to a more holistic approach that takes into account the specific circumstances and wishes of the individual and offers a variety of approaches for treatment and support,” said Dr Michelle Funk of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, who led the development of the guidance.
A growing number of countries are seeking to reform their laws, policies and services related to mental health care since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006, But few countries have so far set down the necessary frameworks to meet the far-reaching changes required by international human rights standards. Severe human rights abuses and coercive practices are still far too common in countries of all income levels. Examples of these include forced admission and forced treatment; manual, physical and chemical restraint; unsanitary living conditions; and physical and verbal abuse.
Governments spend less than 2% of their health budgets on mental health, according to WHO’s latest estimates and most mental health expenditure is allocated to psychiatric hospitals, save for high-income countries where the figure is around 43%.
The new guidance, mainly aimed at people responsible for organising and managing mental health care, presents details of what is required in areas such as mental health law, policy and strategy, service delivery, financing, workforce development and civil society participation for mental health services to achieve compliance with the CRPD.
It includes examples from countries which have community-based mental health services that have shown good practices in respect of non-coercive practices, community inclusion, and respect of people’s legal capacity (ie the right to make decisions about their treatment and life).
The required services include crisis support, mental health services provided within general hospitals, outreach services, supported living approaches and support provided by peer groups. Information about financing and results of evaluations of the services presented are included. The report include cost comparisons which show that the featured community-based services produce good outcomes, are preferred by service users and cost about the same as standard mental care services.
“Transformation of mental health service provision must, however, be accompanied by significant changes in the social sector,” said Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “Until that happens, the discrimination that prevents people with mental health conditions from leading full and productive lives will continue.”
A small dose of nitrous oxide may be able to relive the symptoms of medication-resistant depression. Photo by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash
A new study at the University of Chicago Medicine and Washington University found that inhaling low doses of nitrous oxide gas rapidly relieved symptoms of treatment-resistant depression, with few adverse side effects. They found that this was as effective as higher doses of the gas, with fewer unpleasant side effects.
These findings add to the growing body of evidence of non-traditional treatments that may be a viable option for patients with depression that is unresponsive to typical antidepressant medications. It may also be a fast-acting and effective treatment option for patients in crisis.
Often called ‘laughing gas’, nitrous oxide is widely used as an anaesthetic, providing short-term pain relief in dentistry, emergency response and surgery.
A previous study tested a one-hour inhalation session with 50% nitrous oxide gas, which resulted in rapid improvements in depressive symptoms that lasted for at least 24 hours. However, several patients reported negative side effects, including nausea, vomiting and headaches.
“This investigation was motivated by observations from research on ketamine and depression,” said Peter Nagele, MD, Chair of Anesthesia and Critical Care at UChicago Medicine. “Like nitrous oxide, ketamine is an anaesthetic, and there has been promising work using ketamine at a sub-anesthetic dose for treating depression. We wondered if our past concentration of 50% had been too high. Maybe by lowering the dose, we could find the ‘Goldilocks spot’ that would maximize clinical benefit and minimize negative side effects.”
The new study used a similar protocol with 20 patients, this time adding an additional inhalation session with 25% nitrous oxide. They found that the halved-concentration treatment was nearly as effective as 50% nitrous oxide, but there were only one quarter of the negative side effects.
Additionally, researchers tested the patients’ depression scores following treatment over a longer period of up to two weeks compared to 24 hours in the previous protocol. Surprisingly, they found that after only a single administration, some patients had improvements that lasted for the entire follow-up period.
“The reduction in side effects was unexpected and quite drastic, but even more excitingly, the effects after a single administration lasted for a whole two weeks,” said Dr Nagele. “This has never been shown before. It’s a very cool finding.”
These findings point to nitrous oxide being a promising, rapid and effective treatment for those suffering from severe depression which is unresponsive to the usual medication such as SSRIs.
“A significant percentage — we think around 15% — of people who suffer from depression don’t respond to standard antidepressant treatment,” said Charles Conway, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Treatment Resistant Depression and Neurostimulation Clinic at Washington University School of Medicine. “These ‘treatment-resistant depression’ patients often suffer for years, even decades, with life-debilitating depression. We don’t really know why standard treatments don’t work for them, though we suspect that they may have different brain network disruptions than non-resistant depressed patients. Identifying novel treatments, such as nitrous oxide, that target alternative pathways is critical to treating these individuals.”
Despite its ‘laughing gas’ name, patients actually fall asleep after such a low dose.
“They’re not getting high or euphoric, they get sedated,” Dr Nagele said.
Non-traditional treatments for depression faces an uphill battle for acceptance in the mainstream, though researchers hope that the findings from this and similar studies will help open physicians’ minds towards these other possible solutions.
“These have just been pilot studies,” said Dr Nagele. “But we need acceptance by the larger medical community for this to become a treatment that’s actually available to patients in the real world. Most psychiatrists are not familiar with nitrous oxide or how to administer it, so we’ll have to show the community how to deliver this treatment safely and effectively. I think there will be a lot of interest in getting this into clinical practice.”
With broader public acceptance, Dr Nagele hopes that these results help those patients who are struggling to find adequate therapies for their depression.
“There is a huge unmet need,” he said. “There are millions of depressed patients who don’t have good treatment options, especially those who are dealing with suicidality. If we develop effective, rapid treatments that can really help someone navigate their suicidal thinking and come out on the other side — that’s a very gratifying line of research.”
Journal information: P. Nagele et al., “A phase 2 trial of inhaled nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant major depression,” Science Translational Medicine (2021).
Adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were more than three times as likely to have an ischaemic stroke later in life compared to adults who do not have OCD, according to new research.
OCD involves intrusive thoughts which may be accompanied by actions to alleviate the stress brought on by these thoughts; these are called obsessions and compulsions, respectively. Potentially debilitating, OCD typically manifests in adolescence and is under-reported and under-treated. The World Health Organization ranks OCD as one of the ten most disabling conditions worldwide, with a lifetime prevalence of 1% to 3%.
Clinical research has shown that patients with OCD often have stroke-related metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes.
While a growing body of evidence suggests an association between OCD and stroke risk, with some patients developing OCD after a stroke, OCD may also influence stroke risk. OCD raises the risk for ischaemic stroke more than 3-fold, especially among older adults Drawing on health records from 2001-2010 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, researchers compared stroke risk between 28 064 adults diagnosed with OCD and 28 064 adults without an OCD diagnosis. The average age at diagnosis was 37 years old, with equal representation of men and women, with a maximum data coverage of 11 years.
Analysis showed that even after controlling for factors known to increase stroke risk such obesity and high blood pressure, OCD remained an independent risk factor for ischaemic stroke. However, no differences were found when considering hemorrhagic strokes, and medications to treat OCD were linked to increased risk of stroke. Ya-Mei Bai, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said: “The results of our study should encourage people with OCD to maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as quitting or not smoking, getting regular physical activity and managing a healthy weight to avoid stroke-related risk factors.”
Worldwide, stroke is the second-leading cause of death after heart disease. Cerebrovascular diseases often present complex cases, and this study was the first to consider how OCD and strokes may be associated on a longer time scale.
Limitations include the observational nature of the study being unable to establish cause and effect, as well as the inclusion in the data of only stroke patients who sought health care. Additionally, information on disease severity and outcome was not included along with family medical history or environmental influences, which can further affect both the extent of OCD and severity of strokes.
“For decades, studies have found a relationship between stroke first and OCD later,” said Prof Bai. “Our findings remind clinicians to closely monitor blood pressure and lipid proles, which are known to be related to stroke in patients with OCD. More research is needed to understand how the mental processes connected to OCD may increase the risk of ischaemic stroke.”
Journal information: Chen, M-H., et al. (2021) Increased Risk of Stroke in Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Nationwide Longitudinal Study. Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.032995.
Depending on coffee to get through the day after a night of poor sleep isn’t always the answer, suggests a new study from Michigan State University.
Researchers from MSU’s Sleep and Learning Lab, led by psychology associate professor Kimberly Fenn, assessed the effectiveness of caffeine in counteracting the negative effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. It turned out that caffeine only helps up to a point.
The study assessed the impact of caffeine following a night of sleep deprivation. The study recruited over 275 participants who were asked to complete a simple attention task as well as a more challenging ‘placekeeping’ task where tasks had to be completed in a specific order without skipping or repeating steps.
Asst Prof Fenn’s study is the first to investigate the effect of caffeine on placekeeping after a period of sleep deprivation.
“We found that sleep deprivation impaired performance on both types of tasks and that having caffeine helped people successfully achieve the easier task,” said Asst Prof Fenn. “However, it had little effect on performance on the placekeeping task for most participants.”
She added: “Caffeine may improve the ability to stay awake and attend to a task, but it doesn’t do much to prevent the sort of procedural errors that can cause things like medical mistakes and car accidents.”
The US population has a pervasive lack of sleep, a problem that has intensified during the pandemic, Asst Prof Fenn said. Having inadequated sleep impacts not only cognition and mood, but can eventually weaken immunity.
“Caffeine increases energy, reduces sleepiness and can even improve mood, but it absolutely does not replace a full night of sleep, Fenn said. “Although people may feel as if they can combat sleep deprivation with caffeine, their performance on higher-level tasks will likely still be impaired. This is one of the reasons why sleep deprivation can be so dangerous.”
Asst Prof Fenn said that the study has theoretical and practical implications.
“If we had found that caffeine significantly reduced procedural errors under conditions of sleep deprivation, this would have broad implications for individuals who must perform high stakes procedures with insufficient sleep, like surgeons, pilots and police officers,” she concluded. “Instead, our findings underscore the importance of prioritising sleep.”
