Effects on Caffeine on Adolescent Behavior and Physiology

美国人每年消费超过150亿加仑的苏打水，相当于每人550罐。 在过去的30年里，青少年中咖啡因的使用量增加了70%。在这个年龄段中，最 常用的咖啡因摄取途径是苏打水。除了消费带来的潜在健康风险外 咖啡因，苏打水往往含有高水平的糖，这会使儿童面临患龋齿和 超重。尽管尚不清楚咖啡因本身是否会使人上瘾，但成人和青少年咖啡因的子集 使用者符合《精神疾病诊断和统计手册》--第四版药物依赖标准。在……里面 此外，咖啡因的使用增加了对可卡因、安非他明和 尼古丁。因为糖是一种已知的“自然奖赏”，它激活与药物相似的神经元通路。 滥用，我们假设咖啡因与糖的长期配对会导致糖分增加 消费，潜在地通过增加含有添加剂的食品和饮料的强化价值来调节 糖。这里概述的研究将检验这一假说，并确定青少年是否会 生理和/或心理上对咖啡因影响的耐受性。12-17岁的儿童将被 根据他们自己报告的每日咖啡因摄入量，细分为四分位数。这将使我们能够评估 习惯性摄入咖啡因是否会导致生理和行为的改变 对咖啡因使用的反应。在具体目标1中，将通过服用以下药物进行剂量反应研究 生理(心率、血压和手部震颤)和心理测量 服用安慰剂和三剂咖啡因。此外，咖啡因对饮用量的影响 还将评估含有添加糖的食品和饮料以及对蔗糖的敏感度和喜好。 《特定目标2》将测量慢性和急性咖啡因如何调节人们对新饮料的口味偏好。 最后，特定目标3将评估含咖啡因和不含咖啡因的相对增强价值。 饮料。这些研究调查了一组关于生理和行为的新问题 青少年摄入咖啡因的后果。此外，这些结果将提供有关 咖啡因的使用与食物偏好的发展之间的潜在联系，特别是对 含糖量较高的食品和饮料。获得NIH资金并完成这套 研究将通过提供人权领域的培训来促进首席调查员的职业目标 吞咽行为、行为药理学和成瘾。这些研究是迈向 建立一条独立的研究路线，包括研究调节 喜庆的行为。此外，这一奖项将展示成为一个 独立调查员和竞争RO1拨款。

Americans consume over 15 billion gallons of soda per year; the equivalent of >550 cans per individual. Caffeine use in adolescents has increased by 70% in the past 30 years. Within this age group, the most popular route of caffeine administration is soda. In addition to potential health risks from consuming caffeine, soda tends to contain high levels of sugar, which puts children at risk for dental caries and overweight. Although it is unclear if caffeine itself is addictive, a subset of adult and adolescent caffeine users meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-IV criteria for drug dependence. In addition, caffeine usage increases sensitivity and potentiates addiction to cocaine, amphetamine, and nicotine. Because sugar is a known "natural reward" that activates similar neuronal pathways as drugs of abuse, we hypothesize that the long-term pairing of caffeine with sugar leads to enhanced sugar consumption, potentially mediated by increased reinforcing value of foods and beverages containing added sugar. The studies outlined here will test this hypothesis as well as determine whether adolescents develop physiological and/or psychological tolerance to the effects of caffeine. Children ages 12-17 years will be subdivided into quartiles based on their self-reported daily caffeine intake. This will allow us to assess whether there are different levels of habitual caffeine use lead to changes in physiological and behavioral responses to caffeine administration. In Specific Aim 1, a dose response study will be conducted by taking physiological (heart rate, blood pressure, and hand tremor) and psychological measurements in response to administration of placebo and three doses of caffeine. In addition, the effects of caffeine on consumption of foods and beverages containing added sugar and sensitivity to and liking of sucrose will also be assessed. Specific Aim 2 will measure how chronic and acute caffeine modulates taste preferences for novel drinks. Finally, Specific Aim 3 will assess the relative reinforcing value of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages. These studies investigate a novel set of questions concerning the physiological and behavioral consequences of caffeine ingestion among adolescents. In addition, these results will provide information on the potential link between caffeine use and the development of food preferences, in particular preference for foods and beverage with high levels of added sugar. Obtaining NIH funding and completing this set of studies will contribute to the Principal Investigator's career goals by providing training in the areas of human ingestive behavior, behavioral pharmacology, and addiction. These studies are a first step toward establishing an independent line of research that involves studying neuronal mechanisms that regulate ingestive behavior. In addition, this award will demonstrate the funding potential necessary to become an independent investigator and to compete for an RO1 grant.