Concentration-effect relationships of plasma caffeine on EEG delta power and cardiac autonomic activity during human sleep.

Acute caffeine intake affects brain and cardiovascular physiology, yet the concentration-effect relationships on the electroencephalogram and cardiac autonomic activity during sleep are poorly understood. To tackle this question, we simultaneously quantified the plasma caffeine concentration with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, as well as the electroencephalogram, heart rate and high-frequency (0.15-0.4 Hz) spectral power in heart rate variability, representing parasympathetic activity, with standard polysomnography during undisturbed human sleep. Twenty-one healthy young men in randomized, double-blind, crossover fashion, ingested 160 mg caffeine or placebo in a delayed, pulsatile-release caffeine formula at their habitual bedtime, and initiated a 4-hr sleep opportunity 4.5 hr later. The mean caffeine levels during sleep exhibited high individual variability between 0.2 and 18.4 μmol L. Across the first two non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM)-rapid-eye-movement sleep cycles, electroencephalogram delta (0.75-2.5 Hz) activity and heart rate were reliably modulated by waking and sleep states. Caffeine dose-dependently reduced delta activity and heart rate, and increased high-frequency heart rate variability in NREM sleep when compared with placebo. The average reduction in heart rate equalled 3.24 ± 0.77 beats per minute. Non-linear statistical models suggest that caffeine levels above ~7.4 μmol L decreased electroencephalogram delta activity, whereas concentrations above ~4.3 μmol L and ~ 4.9 μmol L, respectively, reduced heart rate and increased high-frequency heart rate variability. These findings provide quantitative concentration-effect relationships of caffeine, electroencephalogram delta power and cardiac autonomic activity, and suggest increased parasympathetic activity during sleep after intake of caffeine.