Coffee's 'Stimulant' Effect : Only works on Lazy People

For many workers, a cup of coffee is a morning ritual - but new research suggests that it doesn't actually give you a boost.
A study found that caffeine - and other stimulants such as amphetamines - don't actually raise motivation levels.

People who are already motivated could well feel the urge to slack off - and the only ones who benefit will be slackers.

"Every day, millions of people use stimulants to wake up, stay alert and increase their productivity – from truckers driving all night to students cramming for exams," says Jay Hosking, a PhD candidate in the University of British Columbia's Department of Psychology, who led the study.

"These findings suggest that some stimulants may actually have an opposite effect for people who naturally favour the difficult tasks of life that come with greater rewards."

The study – published in Nature’s Neuropsycho pharmacology – explored the impacts of stimulants on rats.

As with humans, some rats are more willing to solve problems than others - in the case of humans, it's workplace problems.

For the rats, they are laboratory puzzles.

With 'busy' rats, coffee and amphetamines made them less active.

With lazier specimens, the opposite was true.

When presented with stimulants, the 'slacker' rats that typically avoided challenges worked significantly harder when given amphetamines, while 'worker' rats that typically embraced challenges were less motivated by caffeine or amphetamine.

The study suggests that the amount of mental attention people devote to achieving
their goals may play a role in determining how stimulants affect them, Hosking says.