If the caffeine has been shown to be effective in preventing dementia, both in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and in normal aging processes, by blocking adenosine receptors, it would exert opposite effects once cognitive symptoms are developed, according to results of a study published in the medical journal Frontiers in Pharmacology. These findings were observed in mice.
If the problems of memory are the most prominent symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, this pathology is also characterized by neuropsychiatric symptoms, strongly present in the early stages of the disease. Known as psychological and behavioral symptoms of dementia (BPSD), anxiety, apathy, depressionhallucinations and paranoia manifest themselves in different ways in different patients.
Caffeine a risk factor for Alzheimer’s symptoms
Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in Spain in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden conducted a study with two groups of mice, healthy old rodents and models of animals affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
“Mice develop Alzheimer’s disease in a manner very similar to humans. They not only exhibit the typical cognitive problems, but also a number of symptoms similar to BPSD, so this is a valid model for determining whether the benefits caffeine may offset its putative negative effects,” says Raquel Baeta-Corral, first author of the study.
The results of the study showed that caffeine alters the behavior of healthy mice and worsens the neuropsychiatric symptoms of mice with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found significant effects particularly with respect to neophobia (a fear of anything new), anxiety-related behaviors, and emotional and cognitive flexibility.
“Our observations suggest that an exacerbation of signs similar to those of the psychological and behavioral symptoms of dementias (BPSD) may in part interfere with the beneficial effects of caffeine on the brain”, explains Dr Lydia Giménez-Llort, co-author of study and psychiatrist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in Spain.
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