Many people love coffee and the bursts of energy it gives. For those whose professions are highly stressful and sometimes requires people to work very long hours and sleepless nights, coffee is their best friend.
We have all heard the benefits and risks of caffeine consumption, such as having a lower risk of developing chronic illnesses for those who drink coffee regularly. It keeps us alert and increases our concentration. The downsides include a higher likelihood of developing insomnia, headaches, anxiety, and chest pain.
There hasn't been a lot of studies, however, looking at its effect on decision making and other "higher" cognitive functions like risk-taking, judgment, and problem-solving. Although many bright minds have probably taken large doses of caffeine each day, and whether that helped or hindered their pursuits is something we cannot definitively say.
A team of researchers have recently attempted to look at the impact of caffeine on decision making. In conducting the study, they recruited a group of soccer players, aged 16 to 17. These teenagers were also moderate caffeine users, had no history of medical conditions, and didn't smoke or use any other drug.
The researchers had the players take two soccer tests a week apart, once with coffee and another with placebos. What they found was that the caffeinated players performed more accurately with their passes. However, their performance declined in the decision-making test.
Of course, this doesn't run the gamut of all the different scenarios coffee drinkers around the world face. So we cannot generalize and say that caffeine negatively affects people's decision making. Further studies would be needed to make any definitive conclusion, but it does bring this angle to the caffeine debate.
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