The present study aimed to assess the effects of repeated administration of low-dose caffeine during a night of total sleep deprivation on physical and cognitive performance. Twelve recreational runners (being non-habitual caffeine users) performed four test sessions in a double-blind randomized order after (i) a placebo or 6 mg/kg of caffeine ingestion during a baseline night (BN) or (ii) a placebo or three doses of 2 mg/kg of caffeine during a night of total sleep deprivation (TSD). At each session, they completed an exhaustive run at 75% of the final velocity in a Vameval test (Vvameval) around a 400 m outdoor athletics track and performed the correct detection and reaction time tasks. In comparison with BN, the TSD condition significantly impaired running performance, reaction time, and correct detections. On the contrary, caffeine intake improved exhaustive running performance after BN by 5.2% (p < .001) and after TSD by 8.9% (p < .001), increased correct detections after BN (p < .05) and TSD (p < .05), and decreased reaction time after BN (p < .01) and TSD (p < .05) compared to placebo. Therefore, the repeated ingestion of low-dose caffeine is an effective strategy to counteract the detrimental effects of total sleep deprivation on physical and cognitive performance.
Keywords: Caffeine; cognitive function; endurance; performance; sleep deprivation.