Caffeine Supplementation Improves the Cognitive Abilities and Shooting Performance of Trained E-sports Players

Graduate Program in Department of Exercise Health Science, National Taiwan University of Sport

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT05521347

Enrollment

Registered

2022-08-30

Start date

2022-01-01

Completion date

2022-04-30

Last updated

2022-08-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Caffeine, Placebo

Keywords

caffeine, reaction time

Brief summary

Purpose: investigators explored the effect of 3 mg/kg of caffeine supplementation on the cognitive ability and shooting performance of trained e-sports players. Methods: investigators recruited nine e-sports players who had received professional training in e-sports and had won at least eighth place in national-level e-sports shooting competitions. After performing three to five familiarization tests, investigators employed a randomized crossover design to divide participants into a caffeine trial (CAF) and a placebo trial (PL). The CAF group took capsules with 3 mg/kg of caffeine, whereas the PL group took a placebo capsule. After a 1-h rest, the Stroop task, visual search ability test, and the shooting ability test were conducted.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALcaffeine

we employed a randomized crossover design to divide participants into a caffeine trial (CAF) and a placebo trial (PL). The CAF group took capsules with 3 mg/kg of caffeine, whereas the PL group took a placebo capsule. After a 1-h rest, the Stroop task, visual search ability test, and the shooting ability test were conducted.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

MALE

Age

20 Years to 50 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* had experience with national competitions and regularly underwent training in first-person shooters

Exclusion criteria

* no experience with national competitions and regularly underwent training in first-person shooters * have any diseases affecting the heart, bones, and joints or diseases that preclude exercise

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Stroop task	1 hour after intervention	The color-word Stroop task and visual search test were conducted using Psych/Lab for Windows. The reaction time (millisecond) were recorded.
visual search test	1 hour after intervention	A total of 80 search displays were presented in 5 minutes. In each display, 5, 10, 15, or 20 -Tests were presented. The reaction time (millisecond) were recorded.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
aim trainer	1 hour after intervention	Participants used the mouse to shoot the electronic targets on the computer screen. The completed time (second) were recorded.

Countries

Taiwan

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026