Coffee can help stay one alert for long hours. A team of Swimburne University of Techology (SUT) carried out the study by a new optical instrument.

Patterson said, “In our project we used the Australian-designed Optalert, which measures drowsiness by observing total duration of eye blinks and the ratio of amplitude and velocity of eye closure during blinking.”

For testing, a group of drivers aged between 18 and 29 were given a capsule containing 200mg caffeine; the quantity is roughly equivalent to two cups of coffee. As a result participants showed improved reaction and alertness that persisted for about three hours.

Patterson said, “Road safety authorities were faced with conflicting evidence on the benefits of drinking coffee, some research showed heightened alertness after caffeine administration, whereas other studies did not.”

Now the team collaborated with Murray Johns at Sleep Diagnostics and Caroline Owen who is now based at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Research Division.

The study, published in the journal Psychopharmacology.