Can Caffeine Help Mediate the Effects of a Dopamine Deficiency?

Restless Leg Syndrome. The first time that I heard my dad speak these words, I thought that he had self-diagnosed himself with a fictitious disease. For years my father had been having trouble sleeping because as he put it, his legs, “are numb and then jump, muscles are contracting and he can’t control it.” RLS or the more professional name, Willis-Ekbom Disease is an unfortunate diagnosis where an individual feel as though they must constantly move their legs. This urge persists until the action is completed, and is characterized by occurring at the end of the day when they are attempting to fall asleep. It is classified as a neurological disorder as it can be caused by a problem in the basal ganglia of the brain, or a dopamine deficiency (NIH). As it turns out, the latter is exactly what my father suffers from.

After visiting the doctor in order to help treat the RLS, his test results indicated that because of a D3 and B12 deficiency, he was not creating enough dopamine. This was causing symptoms such as slower decisions making, balance problems, and of course the RLS. In an attempt to counteract the lethargy that he was feeling from this deficiency, he decided to increase his caffeine consumption, something he had never thought to do before as it has been known to increase the effects of RLS (NIH). The results were astounding. My father was able to think more quickly, and have greater control over his muscles.

Caffeine actually has a great effect on dopamine in the brain. A study published in 2015 found that caffeine upregulates dopamine receptors and inhibits the reuptake of dopamine, while another found that it releases a small amount of dopamine in a specific part of the basal ganglia called the nucleus accumbens, (Volkow) (Ferré). For someone who has a deficiency of dopamine, this made all the difference. One of the many responsibilities of dopamine include facilitating signaling between neural cells. With a low amount of dopamine, these signals are not produced properly, causing problems such as my father has exhibited. For now this quick fix seems to be working, and I hope that it continues to do so.

References:

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Restless-Legs-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet

Ferré S. An update on the mechanisms of the psychostimulant effects of caffeine. Journal of Neurochemistry. 2008;105:1067–1079

Volkow, N. D., Wang, G.-J., Logan, J., Alexoff, D., Fowler, J. S., Thanos, P. K., … Tomasi, D. (2015). Caffeine increases striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in the human brain. Translational Psychiatry, 5(4), e549–.