Coffee hasn’t always been a necessary part of my diet. I started drinking it in
college and ever since only drink it for taste and not to stay awake or because
I feel like I need the caffeine. I personally don’t feel like when I drink it I
get much of a jolt of energy from it…which makes me feel kind of gypped!
A study done by Jay Hosking in the UBC’s Department of
Psychology hypothesized that the effects of stimulants such as caffeine
actually cause “workers with higher motivation levels to slack off”. They took
rats and put them into two categories. There were “slacker” rats that dodged
challenges and didn’t focus on their challenges, which were mostly food
motivated. Then there were “worker” rats that were just the opposite. They
would focus on the tasks in front of them.
The most interesting part is that the slacker rats that got
the stimulants worked a lot harder, whereas the rats that were considered
worker rats, (more motivated people in real life) actually had an opposite
effect when given the stimulants. The stimulants on worker rats caused them to
be less motivated. Although the study doesn’t know exactly what brain
mechanisms were used, it shows that greater attention may need to be taken to
the type of motivation a person has when treating a person for certain
diseases.
The findings were sort of surprising to me because I would
have expected that the highly motivated worker rats would have become even more
motivated by using a stimulant, almost like over energized. It isn’t surprising
that the slacker rats became more productive though because it seems like
giving them a stimulant should increase motivation. I thought this was a very
interesting take on caffeine and stimulant use in the brain. I wish they had
more information on the biological aspects of what may be causing the
difference between the slacker rats and the worker rats because there wasn’t
much explanation as to why there was a difference when they were given the
stimulants.
Source:
http://neurosciencenews.com/coffee-stimulants-high-achievers-slack-off/
I also found these conclusions surprising!! I would have thought that the motivated worker rats would become over energized too. Sometimes I feel the effects of the caffeine when I drink coffee and sometimes I don't. It just depends on my day and how tired I am. Maybe there were other possible variables that affected the rats, like genes. It would have been helpful to know if there was a more in depth research about how the rats' brains specifically reacted and what the difference was.
ReplyDeleteI also find this experiment surprising! However, when I think about it, if I'm not tired and drink coffee just because I'm craving it, I don't really feel more awake than I was before I drink it. I also don't feel more tired though, which is why it is confusing that the worker rats seemed to slack off. To my understanding, caffeine is supposed to keep you at about the same level of energy throughout the day if it is consumed when you are most awake. On another note, in the case of the the slacker rats, it is not surprising that they showed an increase in work effort after being given stimulants.
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