Influence of repeated exposure to caffeine on dopamine transmission: preclinical evidence and potential consequences of caffeine consumption
Year: 2010
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Caffeine is a most popular psychostimulant and is consumed worldwide. A large body of evidence \ndemonstrates the existence of striking differences between the effects of caffeine and those of psychostimulants bearing \nabuse potential, like amphetamines and cocaine, a major one being that the reinforcing properties of caffeine are generally \nmodest. Nevertheless, preclinical research has suggested that caffeine, similar to addictive psychostimulants, is capable of \ninteracting with dopaminergic circuits in the brain and, accordingly, of influencing dopamine-mediated neurobehavioural \nfunctions. Here evidence is reported from an experimental model of long-term caffeine administration in the rat which \ndemonstrates that caffeine can exert an enduring facilitatory influence on dopamine transmission in the corpus striatum. \nSuch an effect was found to be manifested as the development of sensitization to caffeine-induced motor stimulant \neffects, and as the onset of modifications involving receptors and immediate early gene expression in the striatum. \nMoreover, an increased responsiveness to the motor stimulation and striatal immediate early gene expression elicited by \nD-amphetamine was observed in rats pre-exposed to caffeine, further supporting the ability of caffeine to induce a \nhyperfunctionality of dopamine transmission. Taken together, these results lend support to the hypothesis that caffeine \nconsumption might represent a factor capable of amplifying certain behaviours
Author: Nicola Simola
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2799457314