The effects of caffeine withdrawal on cognitive P300 auditory and visual evoked potentials.

Auditory and visual P300 cognitive evoked potentials were obtained in 13 individuals who regularly consumed caffeine prior to and during a 4 day period of abstinence from caffeine. During the period of caffeine abstinence auditory P300 evoked potentials showed significant decreases in amplitude measures but no significant changes in latency, while the visual P300 evoked potentials showed significant latency decreases but no significant changes in amplitude. The reason for these opposite effects is unclear and further research in this area is needed.