The Use of Caffeine to Enhance Cognitive Performance, Reaction Time, Vigilance, Rifle Marksmanship and Mood States in Sleep-Deprived Navy SEAL (BUD/S) Trainees.
Abstract
Caffeine has been shown to improve tasks with a vigilance component. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of caffeine in sleep-deprived individuals exposed to high levels of operational and environmental stress. Volunteers were 68 Navy SEAL trainees. Volunteers were administered caffeine (100, 200, 300 mg or placebo) after 72 hrs of sleep deprivation. Performance testing occurred 1-1.5 hrs and 8-10 hrs after caffeine or placebo administration. Tests included auditory and visual vigilance tests, four-choice reaction time, matching to sample, repeated acquisition, rifle marksmanship, mood and subjective sleepiness assessment. The combined effects of sleep deprivation and the operational and environmental stress of training significantly affected all measures adversely (ANOVAs, p<0.05 to 0.0001). Caffeine (200 or 300 mg) significantly improved (p<0.05) visual vigilance, reaction time, repeated acquisition, mood and alertness measures compared to placebo when sleep-deprived. Marksmanship was not affected by caffeine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA331982
Entities
People
- Barbara . Shukitt-hale
- Bryan. Coffey
- Manoj . Desai
- Richard. Tulley
- Shelley. R. Strowman
- William J. Tharion
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine