Alcohol And Caffeine Effect On Heart Rate

The goal of this project is to test whether alcohol and caffeine has an effect on heart rate, using the freshwater crustacean, Daphnia magna, as the experimental subject. For humans, alcohol works as a depressant, slowing down the heart rate of the consumer; caffeine works as a stimulant, increasing the heart rate of the consumer. The heart depends on an internal pacemaker system to keep it pumping consistently and at the right speed. Alcohol disturbs this pacemaker system and causes the heart to beat irregularly. Studies show that caffeine consumption raises blood pressure, or stroke volume of the heart by 4 points per minute, and heart rate goes up by about 3 beats per minute. Caffeine consumption raises pulse rates by stimulating cardiac