ArticleFrontiers in physiology2018
Caffeine and Placebo Improved Maximal Exercise Performance Despite Unchanged Motor Cortex Activation and Greater Prefrontal Cortex Deoxygenation.
Article in Frontiers in physiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Placebo Effects and Physical Performance: Central and Peripheral Mechanisms Investigated by Different Experimental Designs
Evaluating the Impact of Perceived Control on Placebo Effectiveness: A Comparison Between Classic and Self-Administered Placebo Paradigms
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placebo and Nocebo Effects in Motor Performance: An Overview of Reviews.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The effects of being told you are in the intervention group on training results: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Caffeine ingestion increases endurance performance of trained male cyclists when riding against a virtual opponent without altering muscle fatigue.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Trial
- Caffeine alters the breathing pattern during high-intensity whole-body exercise in healthy men.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Trial
- A Two-Level, Multidimensional Framework for Understanding and Treating Clinician Fatigue.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Caffeine as an Ergogenic Aid for Neuromuscular Performance: Mechanisms of Action from Brain to Motor Units.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Distinguishing caffeine expectancy from pharmacological effects: a comparative review of experimental designs with future directions.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Positive and Negative Expectations Associated with Coffee and Energy Drinks: Implications for Placebo-Nocebo Research in Sports.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Belief That Caffeine Ingestion Improves Performance in a 6-Minute Time Trial Test without Affecting Pacing Strategy.Nutrients · 2024Article
- The reward for placebos: mechanisms underpinning placebo-induced effects on motor performance.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Review
- Effects of caffeinated beverage ingestion on salivary antimicrobial proteins responses to acute exercise in the heat.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- A Narrative Review of Current Concerns and Future Perspectives of the Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse Effects on Exercise Performance.SAGE open medicine · 2022Review
- The therapeutic potential of exercise and caffeine on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in athletes.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse Mitigates Mental Fatigue Effects on Maximal Incremental Test Performance, but Not in Cortical Alterations.Brain sciences · 2020Article
- Comment on: "Caffeine and Exercise: What Next?"Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Article
- Article
- The Influence of Caffeine Expectancies on Simulated Soccer Performance in Recreational Individuals.Nutrients · 2019Article
- Exercise Intensity Influences Prefrontal Cortex Oxygenation during Cognitive Testing.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Adaptive filtering of physiological noises in fNIRS data.Biomedical engineering online · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Caffeine (CAF) is an ergogenic aid used to improve exercise performance. Independent studies have suggested that caffeine may have the ability to increase corticospinal excitability, thereby decreasing the motor cortex activation required to generate a similar motor output. However, CAF has also been suggested to induce a prefrontal cortex (PFC) deoxygenation. Others have suggested that placebo (PLA) may trigger comparable effects to CAF, as independent studies found PLA effects on motor performance, corticospinal excitability, and PFC oxygenation. Thus, we investigated if CAF and CAF-perceived PLA may improve motor performance, despite the likely unchanged MC activation and greater PFC deoxygenation. Nine participants (26.4 ± 4.8 years old, VO
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.