The new research was published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research. It was the work of researchers associated with the University of Memphis in Tennessee.
The research used AmaTea guayusa extract from Applied Food Sciences. AFS was one of the sponsors of the study, although the researchers said the company had no say in the design of the study or the analysis of the data.
Complex esports factors
The researchers stated that video game proficiency is a multifactorial research problem. It implies the capacity of an individual”think and reason abstractly and solve problems either alone or as a member of a group. using inductive skills, spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and something the researchers referred to as “social skills.”
Guayusa is a kind of holly native to the Amazon region. Traditionally, it was consumed as a tea made from the leaves of the plant that has natural caffeine content, but appears to work differently than other caffeinated products. AmaTea, in addition to caffeine, has chlorogenic acid and rutin as its main components and has been shown to induce increased mental focus without the jitters some people experience from high caffeine intake.
Previous AFS research on the ingredient has focused on chemical changes in the brain. alteration of neurotransmitters
Preliminary research in a rodent model showed modest increases in norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, histamine, acetylcholine, and dopamine compared to placebo.
The current study aimed to see what effect those brain chemical changes might have on players participating in an hour-long Fortnite session. In the words of the researchers, to be successful under these conditions it is “It is imperative that players maintain sustained peak cognitive performance, optimal behavioral motor skills, and a natural euphoria throughout multiple hours of competition.”
To test the effects of AmaTea, the researchers recruited 49 subjects, only two of whom were women, to participate in a study that involved 4-hour blocks of playing the video game Fortnite Battle Royale. The participants played the game in a laboratory and participated in three blind sessions, one with AmaTea, another with caffeine and a third with a placebo. Participants were instructed to arrive fasted and the interventions were ingested five minutes before the start of the game. The researchers took pains to keep the participants on the same teams, ideally in groups of four. In total, the sessions lasted from 16 to 22 hours.
Slightly improved gameplay
The results did not show statistically different performance between the three groups in game performance. Performance was best during the first hour of play (which was divided into successive “matches” of around 20-25 minutes each) and decreased slightly thereafter for all three groups.
The AmaTea group reported a perception of greater mental vigor, the researchers said. And AmaTea showed a trend towards a higher number of ‘deaths’ per match, although the difference was not statistically significant. The researchers said that future studies will focus on that.
“It is possible that a different play stimulus, varied play time, or a different dose of the supplement may have produced even more favorable results.”they concluded.
Source: Journal of Clinical and Translational Research
2022 April 29; 8(2): 93–102. Posted online March 1, 2022.
Impact of AmaTea® Max on physiological measures and game performance in active players: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Authors: Bloomer RJ, et al.
