Sainz Ignacio, Collado-Mateo Daniel, Coso Juan Del
Team Queso, e-Gamers Club. Madrid, Spain.
Centre for Sport Studies, Rey Juan Carlos University, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain.
Physiol Behav. 2020 Oct 1;224:113031. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113031. Epub 2020 Jun 25.
Caffeine is considered a cognitive enhancer at low to moderate doses because it improves alertness, vigilance, attention, and reaction time. However, no previous investigation has assessed the effect of acute caffeine intake on e-sports-specific performance. The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect of the ingestion of 3 mg per kg of body mass on simple reaction time in a color test and on hit accuracy and reaction time during a first-person shooting game. Fifteen professional e-gamers (age= 22 ± 3 years) participated in a double-blind, cross-over, randomized experimental trial. In two trials 3 days apart, participants either ingested a placebo (cellulose) or 3 mg/kg of caffeine in an opaque and unidentifiable capsule. After a 45-min wait for substance absorption, participants performed 5 attempts at a simple reaction time test and completed a first-person shooting game that included 3 attempts at a 2-min game with 60 fixed targets (180 targets in total). Reaction times (in both tests) and accuracy in hitting the targets (only in the shooting game) were measured. In comparison to the placebo, caffeine decreased simple reaction time (0.20 ± 0.01 vs. 0.19 ± 0.01 s, P < 0.01), the mean time taken to hit the targets (0.92 ± 0.07 vs. 0.88 ± 0.07 s, P < 0.01) and enhanced hit accuracy (98.8 ± 0.92 vs. 99.8 ± 0.35% of targets hit, P < 0.01). In summary, the acute ingestion of 3 mg/kg of caffeine reduced the time taken to react to a simple stimulus, decreased the time taken to hit a fixed target and improved accuracy in hitting the target in a first-person shooting game in professional e-gamers. Thus, the caffeine ingestion (3 mg/kg) might be considered as an ergogenic aid for e-sports gamers based on its effect to enhance hit accuracy and time.
咖啡因在低至中等剂量时被视为一种认知增强剂，因为它能提高警觉性、专注力、注意力和反应速度。然而，此前尚无研究评估急性摄入咖啡因对电子竞技特定表现的影响。本研究的目的是确定每千克体重摄入3毫克咖啡因对颜色测试中的简单反应时间以及第一人称射击游戏中的命中精度和反应时间的影响。15名职业电子游戏玩家（年龄=22±3岁）参与了一项双盲、交叉、随机实验。在相隔3天的两次试验中，参与者分别服用了安慰剂（纤维素）或装在不透明且无法识别的胶囊中的每千克体重3毫克咖啡因。在等待45分钟以使物质吸收后，参与者进行了5次简单反应时间测试，并完成了一场第一人称射击游戏，该游戏包括在2分钟的游戏中对60个固定目标进行3次尝试（总共180个目标）。测量了（两项测试中的）反应时间以及命中目标的精度（仅在射击游戏中）。与安慰剂相比，咖啡因缩短了简单反应时间（0.20±0.01秒对0.19±0.01秒，P<0.01）、命中目标的平均时间（0.92±0.07秒对0.88±0.07秒，P<0.01），并提高了命中精度（命中目标的比例为98.8±0.92%对99.8±0.35%，P<0.01）。总之，职业电子游戏玩家急性摄入每千克体重3毫克咖啡因可减少对简单刺激的反应时间，缩短命中固定目标的时间，并提高第一人称射击游戏中命中目标的精度。因此，基于其提高命中精度和缩短时间的效果，摄入咖啡因（每千克体重3毫克）可被视为电子竞技玩家的一种促力辅助剂。
