Kava’s effect on average reaction time and divided attention at drinking dosages.
This 2020 study was performed on ten kava drinkers and 10 non-kava drinkers in a more traditional setting. The study targeted kava drinkers that would intake doses greater than 2g of kavalactones per sitting. They were tested and scored in reaction times and divided attention tests. The researchers used two different tests. These tests are known as WAFA, the alertness test, and WAFG, the divided attention test. The tests were performed on computer by research software which would ask the participants questions and would garner a result based on the cumulative responses they would provide. Novice kava drinkers were excluded from this study. Only seven of the twenty participants involved consumed the maximum average 3.6 liters of kava over the study’s 6-hour test period. The average kavalactone consumption for the group was calculated at just under 4500mg, or 15 times greater than the daily pharmacologically recommended dose of 300mg.
Kava drinkers were allowed to consume kava in a traditional setting for this article. Researchers agreed that as the 6 hours progressed changes were seen in the kava consumers. They observed slowing movements, a drowsy appearance, and difficulty pronouncing words and slowing of speaking.
Mean reaction time baseline was found to be 249.95 milliseconds. Divided attention time averages among all groups were found to be 256.70 milliseconds. When kava was consumed in large quantities, results of this study showed no statistically significant difference between the averages of non-drinkers and kava drinkers over the 6-hour testing period in WAFA and WAFG tests. This was found regardless of speech and movement slowing as the test and kava drinking progressed. Study limitations were acknowledged. This study has highlighted the need for more rigorous research into large dose kava intoxication, as a rift exists between experimental data and real-word data on kava intoxication and its effects.
TL/DR: This study found that large doses of kava over a 6-hour period did not affect average reaction times and divided attention times, while certainly causing some level of intoxication, adding to the complexity of kava intoxication as a whole. More studies are currently under way to address this.
Aporosa, A. S., Atkins, M., & Brunton, R. (2020). Kava drinking in traditional settings: Towards understanding effects on cognitive function. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 35(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2725
This 2020 study was performed on ten kava drinkers and 10 non-kava drinkers in a more traditional setting. The study targeted kava drinkers that would intake doses greater than 2g of kavalactones per sitting. They were tested and scored in reaction times and divided attention tests. The researchers used two different tests. These tests are known as WAFA, the alertness test, and WAFG, the divided attention test. The tests were performed on computer by research software which would ask the participants questions and would garner a result based on the cumulative responses they would provide. Novice kava drinkers were excluded from this study. Only seven of the twenty participants involved consumed the maximum average 3.6 liters of kava over the study’s 6-hour test period. The average kavalactone consumption for the group was calculated at just under 4500mg, or 15 times greater than the daily pharmacologically recommended dose of 300mg.
Kava drinkers were allowed to consume kava in a traditional setting for this article. Researchers agreed that as the 6 hours progressed changes were seen in the kava consumers. They observed slowing movements, a drowsy appearance, and difficulty pronouncing words and slowing of speaking.
Mean reaction time baseline was found to be 249.95 milliseconds. Divided attention time averages among all groups were found to be 256.70 milliseconds. When kava was consumed in large quantities, results of this study showed no statistically significant difference between the averages of non-drinkers and kava drinkers over the 6-hour testing period in WAFA and WAFG tests. This was found regardless of speech and movement slowing as the test and kava drinking progressed. Study limitations were acknowledged. This study has highlighted the need for more rigorous research into large dose kava intoxication, as a rift exists between experimental data and real-word data on kava intoxication and its effects.
TL/DR: This study found that large doses of kava over a 6-hour period did not affect average reaction times and divided attention times, while certainly causing some level of intoxication, adding to the complexity of kava intoxication as a whole. More studies are currently under way to address this.
Aporosa, A. S., Atkins, M., & Brunton, R. (2020). Kava drinking in traditional settings: Towards understanding effects on cognitive function. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 35(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2725
