Every morning before making my way to my first class, an essential part of my daily routine is heading to Findlay commons for a cup of coffee if I want to get through my morning. Why? Caffeine. I have found that without caffeine it’s very hard for me to stay awake and alert in my early morning classes. The fact that I rely so heavily on this substance got me to researching which eventually led me to find an interesting link between caffeine and creativity.
Just thinking about it, I didn’t think there could be an actual link between caffeine and creativity since they seem completely unrelated. But, if there’s anything I’ve learned in this class, it’s that two seemingly unconnected things can correlate. And then I thought about how if there were to be a connection, that caffeine would stimulate creativity since people, like me, usually can’t get through the day without having some caffeine to spark some energy and maybe even trigger creativity. My goal was to find out how.
Before researching, I thought that caffeine would give the body more energy thus allowing it to stay alert for a few hours. After researching, I discovered that caffeine actually hinders the receptors that activate when adenosine, the chemical that signals the brain when you need rest, is accepted (see x). This in turn doesn’t allow your brain to know when you actually need to sleep and to regain energy (see x). It convinces your body that you have the same amount of energy that you did when you first started drinking the caffeine (see x). Consequently, while for a while you may be motivated and empowered, you eventually end up drained and depleted once the caffeine wears off. (x)
As for creativity, since adenosine is being blocked, this allows for other chemicals, specifically dopamine and glutamate, to do additional work in your brain (x). According to this article, dopamine is a neurotransmitter in your body that passes information between neurons (x). According to another article, glutamate is also a neurotransmitter that helps with learning and memory and is responsible for sending signals throughout the body (x). Overall, caffeine allows these neurotransmitters to work beyond their normal potential, thus enhancing creativity as you are more likely to be more inventive. The problem with this is that as soon as the effects of caffeine wears off, the adenosine kicks in and leads you to feel more tired than you would’ve before drinking it. The article goes on to say that if you are an avid coffee drinker, this may not be true since you are constantly using energy that your body doesn’t actually carry. (x) Bummer.
In conclusion, caffeine may seem like a great way to revitalize and stay attentive when you need it but really, using it every day reduces the effectiveness of it stimulating your creativity. Thus, there is a correlation and causation between caffeine and creativity; the mechanism being that when adenosine is cut off, it allows dopamine and glutamate to do more work in your brain therefore heightening your ability to make connections. While rationally I should stop drinking coffee so that caffeine can be more effective for me when I do, I don’t see any other way I’ll be getting through my 9 a.m.’s…
http://creativesomething.net/post/30931062775/how-caffeine-affects-your-creativity
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mouse-man/200904/what-is-dopamine
http://www.everydayhealth.com/glutamate/guide/
This post is obviously getting a lot of comment attention because it has a college student’s first love in the title: COFFEE! This post truly opened my eyes to some of the ways coffee works and also some of the ways it can hurt us rather than help us. It makes sense that it would only truly help if you don’t consume it often, since like most other drugs, one can build up a tolerance to caffeine. Although infrequent drinking of coffee can help enhance creativity, it is also important to know that caffeine could be a hurt rather than a help for anyone with anxiety problems. It’s also been studied as to whether or not drinking coffee itself could be the cause of some people’s experiences with anxiety, which makes sense considering its ability to cause jitteriness. Here is an interesting link to a website discussing coffee and diet’s connection to anxiety.
This post is obviously getting a lot of comment attention because it has a college student’s first love in the title: COFFEE! This post truly opened my eyes to some of the ways coffee works and also some of the ways it can hurt us rather than help us. It makes sense that it would only truly help if you don’t consume it often, since like most other drugs, one can build up a tolerance to caffeine. Although infrequent drinking of coffee can help enhance creativity, it is also important to know that caffeine could be a hurt rather than a help for anyone with anxiety problems. It’s also been studied as to whether or not drinking coffee itself could be the cause of some people’s experiences with anxiety, which makes sense considering its ability to cause jitteriness. Here is an interesting <a href="http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/causes/coffee<link to a website discussing coffee and diet’s connection to anxiety.
Thanks for sharing these findings – I’ve never drank coffee myself so I can’t speak from experience on whether or not caffeine can impact your creativity levels. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that caffeine actually hurts how creative a person can be; I’ve never bought into it and I’m glad that not drinking coffee is (apparently) the right choice for me.
This post is super interesting. I don’t credit myself as someone creative, but I definitely do love coffee. The problem I have is that one cup of coffee doesn’t keep me awake, in fact, a ton of caffeine doesn’t keep me awake. It doesn’t keep me awake, but if I don’t drink it I get a headache. I definitely am addicted to caffeine and would love to know if there’s research on building up a resiliency to it, kind of like when you’re on a medication for to long.
Interesting post. I truly believe for me personally that there is a link between caffeine and motivation, not so much creativity. Almost every time before I study, I drink at least a cup or two of coffee and power through my homework. According to a johns Hopkins scientific study, there is a link between caffeine and memory. http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/12/caffeine-enhances-memory/
That’s actually really interesting. I never really thought of caffeine as a placebo effect and how consuming caffeine may actually just make you think you are more energized thus giving you the will to carry through. As for caffeine and memory, while doing my research I discovered that it actually enhances your memory and can improve your focus. Now I’m wondering if it just makes you think you are doing better or if there is actually something in caffeine that physically benefits your brain…
Celine, I found this post to be very interesting as an avid coffee drinker myself. Personally, I would have thought that caffeine would impede creativity, but apparently I was mistaken. But I would like to question something, when I drink coffee I don’t feel a difference in my energy or creativity levels. (The only real reason why I drink coffee is for the taste). I would like to ask, why that is? Why is it that caffeine effects some people but doesn’t effect others?
Coffee! One of my largest guilty pleasures. I as well drink coffee almost daily and use it as a way to get through my typical mid day crash. I never knew however that it could restrict creativity. Throughout your research you may have stumbled across this article which not only talks about the restriction of creativity but the numerous benefits caffeine has been found to provide. The article mentions thins such as a boost in short term memory and concentration. Definitely worth a look!
Great post! I really liked this post because I run on coffee. I cannot go a day without having 2-3 cups. In the morning, I look forward to my cup of coffee and often find my first class to be my most enjoyable class because I am alert and focussed. However, sometimes I do notice that as the day goes on, I get more jittery and potentially distracted from being too alert. I wonder if there is a “right” amount of coffee humans should drink just to give them that every push or if too much can actually hurt more than help.