Can caffeine block the neurotransmitter adenosine and resulting in a feeling of well-being and alertness.how?
Caffeine has positive benefits as well as detrimental health effects. It stimulates the brain’s cortex with a resultant increase in mental activity, a temporary feeling of alertness, and reduced drowsiness with less fatigue. The mechanism(s) to produce these benefits is not clear; however, studies have suggested the following. Caffeine appears to interact with cellular adenosine receptors. Adenosine, a by-product of ATP, is a neuromodulator, not a neurotransmitter. Adenosine accumulates in the extracellular space during fatigue, reflecting that the rate of ATP utilization exceeds the rate of ATP synthesis. Adenosine’s effect in the brain is to inhibit neural activity, producing a state of tiredness and sleepiness; whereas, caffeine is stimulatory. Caffeine has been proposed to block adenosine receptors, inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters and clinically producing a state of wakefulness.
