Can energy drinks really improve gamers'
concentration and memory?
Gaming often involves late hours. You may
have a coffee or energy drink next to you right now. I do. Or you may find
caffeine makes you jittery and interferes with your gaming, so you avoid it. It
wasn't going to be long before manufacturers caught on to our often nocturnal
lifestyle and targeted us with a specific solution.
Can
energy drinks really improve gamers' concentration and memory?
The folk at GungHo, maker of a new 'energy
shot ', claim to have solved our all-night session needs with one handy sachet,
illustrating their website with a pic of a game controller. 'Over 50 per cent
of gamers are not satisfied with current energy shots and drinks,' claims an
article1 on PR Web, which actually refers to research funded by
GungHo itself. This is followed by a quote from Dr Dan Mowrey, who I note
attained his PhD in experimental psychology (not neuroscience), and who in
2005, was charged by the FTC2 with 'falsely claiming to be a medical
doctor.' Dr Mowrey says, 'Most energy shots or drinks fail at both ends of your
experience. The initial “rush” and “jitters” often disrupt mental focus and
physical performance - the result of critical compositional imbalances that
provoke the customary “crash”.'
As is often the case, it's best to be
guided by scientific consensus rather than a definite 'that's that', despite
what Dr Mowrey says. Some studies show caffeine improves memory, others show it
impairs it. Some of these studies are flawed, some are robust. The current
consensus is that a lot of caffeine impairs the capacity of short-term and
working memory, and that's a good enough reason to cut down, particularly in
gaming where working memory is vital.
You
may have a coffee or energy drink next to you right now.
So caffeine might screw with your working
memory. Does GungHo contain caffeine? Yes! But I don't know how much, because
the page with the ingredients3 doesn't say. When I emailed GungHo
for more information, the company said, 'Anyone can put a different label on
caffeine and some B-Vitamins, add a dash of Taurine and call it a new product.
We wanted to improve on it.' It then linked me back to the same ingredients
page. However, GungHo made it very clear that its 'flagship ingredient' is
something called Cognizin.
Cognizin is the brand name of Citocoline.
The FDA (the body responsible for approving drugs in the USA) refused to
approve it as a medicine. It doesn't appear to have any solid evidence behind
it, with studies showing it works no better than, to quote Professor
Farnsworth, a big fat placebo. However, the FDA doesn't regulate food, so it's
marketed as food in packets, such as the GungHo energy shot, without needing to
provide any proof of efficacy. You can't buy GungHo in the UK, but you can buy
Citocolin.
The GungHo website claims the product 'can
actually increase your capacity to focus, store and memorize over time', which
would be handy for gamers. I asked neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett of Cardiff University
if that's possible. He said, 'I'm not sure how they'd argue this. If you
perform a repeated task in laboratory settings, then you'd get better at
recalling it (that is, storing and memorizing), with or without the product.
Also, there's no known capacity for human memory as of yet, so how they'd know
they're enhancing it is anyone's guess. This is largely scientifically
uncharted territory.'
Not such a flagship ingredient after all.
The best way to improve concentration and performance is to drink water and get
plenty of exercise. Flexing my trigger finger will be a good start.
