Enduring Behavioural Effects in Rats Treated with Caffeine During Adolescence (2009)

View/ Open
Type of Content
Theses / DissertationsThesis Discipline
PsychologyDegree Name
Master of SciencePublisher
University of Canterbury. PsychologyCollections
Abstract
Children and adolescents are regular consumers of caffeine, and their consumption is increasing. Caffeine has been shown to affect the later behaviour of rats and mice when exposed to the drug daily before birth and during the lactational period of development. However, to date, little research has investigated the effects caffeine consumption may have on adolescent brain development, and the behavioural consequences of this. The present study, therefore, investigated the effects of repeated caffeine exposure on adolescent rats on behavioural measures of anxiety. During middle and later adulthood, the rats’ activity and emotional reactivity were assessed by means of frequencies of rearing, ambulation, immobility, defaecation and urination recorded in an open field, as well as their occupancy of corners and centre squares of the field, and their partial emergence and latencies to fully emerge from a small darkened chamber into a brightly lit arena. The results showed that those rats treated with caffeine were probably more emotionally reactive than untreated controls, as suggested by more immobility, defaecation and urination. There were also effects on rearing and ambulation that might have arisen from increased impulsivity. Overall, the results suggest that exposure to caffeine during adolescence produces some small but significant increases in emotionality in adulthood. This study may have clinical implications, as it is possible that people exposed to caffeine as adolescents, may show increased anxiety later in life.
Keywords
caffeine; drug; anxiety; emotionality; ratRights
Copyright Nika Louise AndersonRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Subsequent behavioural effects of simultaneous adolescent exposure to caffeine and nicotine
Murphy, Samantha (2022)Both caffeine and nicotine are popular and widely used psychostimulants, with many people increasing their consumption of these substances in adolescence. Anxiety is a common side effect of these drugs, as well as a prevalent ... -
Enduring cognitive, emotional and neurogenic alterations induced by alcohol and methamphetamine exposure in adolescent rats.
Loxton, David A. (University of Canterbury, 2016)A high proportion of young methamphetamine (MA) users simultaneously consume alcohol. However, the potential neurological and behavioural alterations induced by such a drug combination have not been systematically examined. ... -
The interaction between caffeine and anxiety level during stress
Whitley, A. O. (University of Canterbury. Psychology, 1985)An experiment was conducted to examine the potential interaction of caffeine and psychological stress in human subjects. More specifically, subjects comprised of those who showed 'high' and 'low' trait anxiety levels as ...