Comments on: Worst Science Article Of The Week: Too Much Coffee Will Make You Hallucinate? http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/ Quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:04:41 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Bad Science » Drink coffee, see dead people. | Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/comment-page-1/#comment-20586 Bad Science » Drink coffee, see dead people. | Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:16:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/#comment-20586 [...] Newspapers, Web sites, and bloggers went ga-ga over the story. And when stuff like this inevitably happens, there are no two blogs we value more than the UK’s Bad Science and Neuroskeptic. In the U.S., we’ve been encouraged by a special weekly feature in Discover Magazine online, who once again proved their mettle: Worst Science Article Of The Week: Too Much Coffee Will Make You Hallucinate? | Discoblog | Discover.... [...] [...] Newspapers, Web sites, and bloggers went ga-ga over the story. And when stuff like this inevitably happens, there are no two blogs we value more than the UK’s Bad Science and Neuroskeptic. In the U.S., we’ve been encouraged by a special weekly feature in Discover Magazine online, who once again proved their mettle: Worst Science Article Of The Week: Too Much Coffee Will Make You Hallucinate? | Discoblog | Discover…. [...]

]]> By: Roy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/comment-page-1/#comment-20577 Roy Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:24:01 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/#comment-20577 This reminded me of a dream theory proposed by, I believe, Crick and Mitchison (1983), where they hypothesized that the purpose of dreaming was to rid ones mind of bad, inaccurate, or "parasitic" memories. If I recall correctly, the theory predicts that, when one is deprived of sleep, the mind isn't able to appropriately sort out or evacuate these parasitic memories, and could become more prone to hallucinations (or the manifestations of these bad memories) during waking hours. The theory was tested by depriving a group of subjects of REM sleep while allowing a control group to sleep thoroughly. They then treated each of the groups to small amounts of a hallucinogenic drug and, indeed, the sleep deprived were more likely to suffer from hallucinations at lower doses. Thus, this story might fit nicely under their theory, whereas coffee drinkers and those who generally use too much caffeine might be expected to be more likely to suffer from hallucinogenic episodes due to a lack of efficient sleep induced by the drug caffeine. This reminded me of a dream theory proposed by, I believe, Crick and Mitchison (1983), where they hypothesized that the purpose of dreaming was to rid ones mind of bad, inaccurate, or “parasitic” memories. If I recall correctly, the theory predicts that, when one is deprived of sleep, the mind isn’t able to appropriately sort out or evacuate these parasitic memories, and could become more prone to hallucinations (or the manifestations of these bad memories) during waking hours. The theory was tested by depriving a group of subjects of REM sleep while allowing a control group to sleep thoroughly. They then treated each of the groups to small amounts of a hallucinogenic drug and, indeed, the sleep deprived were more likely to suffer from hallucinations at lower doses.

Thus, this story might fit nicely under their theory, whereas coffee drinkers and those who generally use too much caffeine might be expected to be more likely to suffer from hallucinogenic episodes due to a lack of efficient sleep induced by the drug caffeine.

]]> By: Gwenny http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/comment-page-1/#comment-20570 Gwenny Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:35:28 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/16/worst-science-article-of-the-week-too-much-coffee-will-make-you-hallucinate/#comment-20570 As someone pointed out in another forum, did they bother to find out if any of the folks who "hallucinated" had pre-existing mental disorders? Implying that anyone who drinks that much coffee is crazy to begin with. But it's a valid question. I have been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and there's a suspicion I am also ADD. Since I spend most of my time without medical coverage, I've developed strategies that include self medicating with caffeine for the ADD and for depression. Alas, I do not hallucinate. That might be exciting. As someone pointed out in another forum, did they bother to find out if any of the folks who “hallucinated” had pre-existing mental disorders? Implying that anyone who drinks that much coffee is crazy to begin with. But it’s a valid question. I have been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and there’s a suspicion I am also ADD. Since I spend most of my time without medical coverage, I’ve developed strategies that include self medicating with caffeine for the ADD and for depression.

Alas, I do not hallucinate. That might be exciting.

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