Scientists have found that consuming caffeine and alcohol leads to effects which are similar to those impacts caused by cocaine.
Researchers from Purdue University analysed mice to figure out the impact of mixing caffeine with alcohol and found that alcohol with caffeine led to a rise in locomotor activity in adolescent mice compared to caffeine alone. This effect was similar to the impact cocaine had on mice.
It was observed that on being given the alcohol-caffeine mixture, the mice became numb to effects of cocaine. These mice would need more quantity of cocaine to get intoxicated.
The alterations caffeine and booze caused in the brain were observed by the researchers. It was found that there was a rise in the level of protein FosB in the nucleus accumbens which refers to the region present in the basal forebrain. This change was also observed when these rodents were given cocaine.
The study established a link between the age of the mice and the impact of booze mixed with cocaine. Brains of the adolescent mice were found to be more sensitive and prone to the effects of liquor mixed with caffeine and many drugs.
Most of the knowledge about human brains has been perceived from studying and analysing mice; hence the researchers concluded that brains of adolescent kids are likely to be prone to the effects of alcohol mixed with caffeine and other drugs.
