Performance pressure and caffeine both affect cognitive performance, but likely through independent mechanisms

•We studied how performance pressure and caffeine ingestion impact math performance.•Both pressure and caffeine negatively affected performance.•Yet, pressure and caffeine affected different trial types, and did not interact.•So, pressure and caffeine likely impact performance through distinct mecha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Brain and cognition Vol. 102; pp. 26 - 32
Main Authors:	Boere, Julia J., Fellinger, Lizz, Huizinga, Duncan J.H., Wong, Sebastiaan F., Bijleveld, Erik
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Inc 01-02-2016
Subjects:	Adolescent BIS11 Caffeine - pharmacology Central Nervous System Stimulants - pharmacology Coffee Cognition - drug effects Cognition - physiology Dopamine Double-Blind Method Eye Blink Rate (EBR) Female Humans Male Modular arithmetic task Performance pressure Stress, Psychological - psychology Performance pressure BIS11 Modular arithmetic task Dopamine Coffee Eye Blink Rate (EBR)
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Summary:	•We studied how performance pressure and caffeine ingestion impact math performance.•Both pressure and caffeine negatively affected performance.•Yet, pressure and caffeine affected different trial types, and did not interact.•So, pressure and caffeine likely impact performance through distinct mechanisms. A prevalent combination in daily life, performance pressure and caffeine intake have both been shown to impact people’s cognitive performance. Here, we examined the possibility that pressure and caffeine affect cognitive performance via a shared pathway. In an experiment, participants performed a modular arithmetic task. Performance pressure and caffeine intake were orthogonally manipulated. Findings indicated that pressure and caffeine both negatively impacted performance. However, (a) pressure vs. caffeine affected performance on different trial types, and (b) there was no hint of an interactive effect. So, though the evidence is indirect, findings suggest that pressure and caffeine shape performance via distinct mechanisms, rather than a shared one.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-News-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0278-2626 1090-2147
DOI:	10.1016/j.bandc.2015.11.006