Separate and Combined Effects of Energy Drinks and Alcohol Intake on Exploratory Behaviour of Male Albino Rats

Abstract

The increasing concurrent consumption of energy drinks and alcohol raises concerns about their combined effects on learning and exploratory behaviour, yet controlled experimental evidence remains limited. This study examined the separate and combined effects of energy drink and alcohol consumption on exploratory behaviour in male albino Wistar rats using the T-maze paradigm. Twenty-seven rats (160–190 g) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 7 per group) and orally administered energy drink (Red Bull), alcohol (Smirnoff vodka), a combination of both, or distilled water (control) for 28 days. Exploratory behaviour was assessed using task completion latency. Data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) post hoc tests, with statistical significance set at p < .05. A significant main effect of treatment was observed, F(3, 23) = 9.349, p < .001, η² = .549, indicating that substance administration accounted for 54.9% of the variance in performance. Rats exposed to alcohol exhibited significantly impaired performance (M = 216.38 s) compared with the control group (M = 113.71 s, p = .001) and the energy drink group (M = 117.75 s, p = .002). No significant difference was observed between the energy drink and control groups (p = .998). The combined energy drink–alcohol group demonstrated intermediate impairment, performing significantly worse than the control (p = .019) and energy drink (p = .028) groups. These findings indicate that chronic alcohol exposure significantly impairs spatial learning and memory, whereas energy drink consumption alone does not markedly influence exploratory performance. Co-administration of energy drinks with alcohol does not mitigate alcohol-induced cognitive deficits, highlighting potential neurobehavioural risks associated with their concurrent use.