The Egamer Study Decoded: What Caffeine + TeaCrine + Dynamine Actually Did to Reaction Time and Inhibitory Control

The Egamer Study Decoded: What Caffeine + TeaCrine + Dynamine Actually Did to Reaction Time and Inhibitory Control

In 2021, a group of researchers handed 50 competitive male gamers three different pills across three weeks and watched what happened to their brains. One pill was caffeine. One was placebo. The third stacked caffeine with two compounds most people have never heard of: theacrine and methylliberine.

The result is the most cited caffeine teacrine dynamine study in the esports nutrition space, and it found something more interesting than "stimulants make you faster." It found that the three-ingredient blend sharpened reaction time and inhibitory control while avoiding the anxiety that caffeine alone produced.

That distinction matters more than the headline. Here is what the trial actually measured, what it found, and where the hype outruns the data.

Key Takeaways

• The Tartar 2021 egamer trial compared caffeine alone, a caffeine + Dynamine + TeaCrine blend (CDT), and placebo in 50 young male gamers using a randomized crossover design.
• Compared to pre-dose, the CDT blend improved Flanker Test inhibitory control and Psychomotor Vigilance Task reaction time.
• Caffeine alone raised self-reported anxiety versus placebo. The CDT blend raised alertness instead, and caused fewer headaches than caffeine.
• The doses tested were high (125 mg caffeine, 75 mg Dynamine, 50 mg TeaCrine), and the sample was all male, so read the findings as directional, not gospel.

What the Caffeine TeaCrine Dynamine Study Actually Tested

The caffeine teacrine dynamine study in question is Tartar et al., published in December 2021 in the journal Cureus. You can read the full paper on PubMed Central.

The design was a repeated-measure, randomized crossover trial. That structure is the strong part. Every one of the 50 participants tried all three conditions on separate weeks, so each gamer served as his own control. That removes a lot of the noise you get when you compare different groups of people.

The three conditions were specific. The researchers compared caffeine (125 mg), caffeine (125 mg) plus Dynamine (75 mg) plus TeaCrine (50 mg), labeled CDT, and a matched placebo across three testing sessions one week apart among 50 young male egamers.

They did not just ask people how they felt. They measured multiple cognitive tasks, self-reported mood including anxiety, alertness, and headache, and biomarkers of arousal like cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase, while also recording EEG power during the cognitive tasks.

They even checked genetics. Each participant was genotyped for the cytochrome P450 1A2*1F allele, the gene linked to how fast you metabolize caffeine.

The Reaction Time and Inhibitory Control Results

The cleanest finding: the three-compound blend improved both attention control and reaction speed after dosing. Compared to pre-dose, CDT improved performance on the Flanker Test of Inhibitory Control and improved reaction time on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task post-dose.

Those two tasks deserve a quick translation, because they are the heart of the CDT esports study.

The Flanker Test (inhibitory control)

The Flanker Test measures your ability to ignore distractions and respond to the right target. In gaming terms, that is the skill of locking onto the enemy while four other things flash on screen. Better Flanker performance means cleaner decisions under visual clutter.

This is also where dose context matters. Earlier research found that caffeine improves Flanker performance in a dose-dependent way but asymptotes at around 200 mg, meaning more caffeine stops helping past a point. The interesting question the trial raised is whether theacrine and methylliberine add something caffeine alone cannot.

The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (reaction time)

The Psychomotor Vigilance Task is a sustained-attention reaction test. You watch for a stimulus and tap as fast as you can, over and over. It is sensitive to fatigue and one of the most validated measures of alertness in research. The CDT blend sped it up. This is the core of the theacrine dynamine reaction time story.

The Mood Difference Is the Real Headline

Here is the part most summaries skip. The blend did not just perform. It performed cleaner.

Compared to placebo, caffeine alone increased self-reported anxiety, whereas the CDT combination increased self-reported alertness instead. Same caffeine dose in both active conditions. Different felt experience.

The headache picture told a similar story. Compared to the CDT combination, caffeine increased self-reported headaches. So adding theacrine and methylliberine appeared to take the rough edges off the caffeine, not amplify them.

The physiology lined up with the subjective reports. Increases in delta EEG power and cortisol production were associated with the CDT condition, which the authors linked to optimizing certain aspects of egamer performance. And the genetics did not muddy things. CYP1A2*1F allele status did not moderate the outcome variables between conditions in this study.

How the Three Compounds Differ

The reason this methylliberine cognitive trial is worth decoding is that the three molecules are chemical cousins with different timing and behavior. Here is the practical breakdown.

Caffeine is the workhorse everyone knows. Methylliberine is structurally similar and tends to act fast and fade fast. Theacrine acts more slowly and lasts longer, which is why blends pair the two: one covers the front end, the other the back end. The trial tested them layered onto caffeine, not in isolation, so treat the takeaway as "the stack helped," not "ingredient X did Y."

What the Study Does Not Prove

A good study breakdown names its limits. This one had real ones.

The sample was 50 young men. The participants were all young male egamers. That tells you nothing reliable about women, older adults, or non-gamers. Reaction-time gains in trained gamers may not transfer to a stressed-out spreadsheet session.

The doses were also higher than what many products use. The active blend ran 125 mg caffeine, 75 mg Dynamine, and 50 mg TeaCrine. If you see a product with lower amounts, you cannot assume identical effects. Dose changes outcomes.

And the within-person comparison for the cognitive gains was pre-dose versus post-dose, not always blend versus placebo head to head on every measure. That is common and reasonable, but it means you should read the cognitive results as directional rather than as a definitive ranking of blend over caffeine. The strongest clean contrast the trial delivered was the mood and side-effect difference between caffeine alone and the blend.

Why This Matters Beyond Gaming

The Tartar 2021 egamer trial used gamers because they are a perfect test population. They need fast reactions, sustained focus, and the ability to filter chaos, all measured against a clock and a scoreboard. But the underlying tasks, Flanker and the vigilance test, are general cognition tools.

The transferable idea is about caffeine combination inhibitory control. The data suggests that what you stack with caffeine can change whether that caffeine shows up as sharp focus or as a racing, anxious edge. For anyone using stimulants to work, study, or compete, that is the practical lesson worth keeping.

The Bottom Line on the Egamer Trial

The Tartar egamer study is not proof of a miracle stack, and it does not claim to be. What it shows is narrower and more useful: layering theacrine and methylliberine onto a moderate caffeine dose was associated with better inhibitory control and faster reaction time after dosing, with more alertness and less anxiety and fewer headaches than the same caffeine alone.

Read it as a directional signal, not a guarantee. The sample was small and male, the doses were on the higher side, and individual response always varies. But the core finding holds up to scrutiny: the company caffeine keeps appears to shape how caffeine feels and performs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the caffeine, TeaCrine, and Dynamine egamer study find?

The 2021 Tartar trial tested caffeine alone, a caffeine plus Dynamine plus TeaCrine blend, and placebo in 50 young male gamers. Compared to pre-dose, the three-compound blend improved performance on the Flanker Test of inhibitory control and sped up reaction time on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task. The blend also raised self-reported alertness while caffeine alone raised anxiety, suggesting the added compounds smoothed out the caffeine experience.

What is the difference between theacrine and methylliberine?

Both are purine alkaloids chemically related to caffeine. Methylliberine, sold as Dynamine, tends to act quickly and clear quickly. Theacrine, sold as TeaCrine, acts more slowly and lasts longer. Blends often combine them so one covers the early window and the other extends the back end. In the egamer study, both were layered onto caffeine rather than tested alone, so the findings describe the stack, not each compound in isolation.

Did the study prove TeaCrine and Dynamine work better than caffeine?

Not exactly. The cognitive improvements were measured against each participant's pre-dose baseline, not always head to head against caffeine on every task. The cleanest direct contrast was on mood and side effects, where the blend produced less anxiety and fewer headaches than caffeine alone at the same caffeine dose. Read the cognitive gains as directional and the side-effect difference as the strongest result.

How big were the doses in the study?

The active blend contained 125 mg caffeine, 75 mg Dynamine (methylliberine), and 50 mg TeaCrine (theacrine). These are relatively high doses. Many commercial products use lower amounts, so you should not assume identical effects from a product with a different formula. Dose meaningfully changes outcomes, which is why matching the research dose is not always the goal.

Does the CYP1A2 caffeine gene change the results?

In this trial, no. The researchers genotyped every participant for the CYP1A2*1F allele, which is linked to how fast a person metabolizes caffeine. They found that allele status did not moderate the outcome variables between conditions. That said, this was one study in one population, so it does not close the question on whether caffeine metabolism genetics matter in other settings.

Can I apply these gaming results to studying or work?

Cautiously. The Flanker and vigilance tasks measure general cognitive skills like filtering distraction and sustaining attention, which apply far beyond gaming. But the participants were trained young male gamers, so reaction-time gains may not transfer cleanly to other people or tasks. Use the study as a reason to think about what you stack with caffeine, not as a promise of specific results in your own day.

Is the caffeine TeaCrine Dynamine combination safe?

The study reported the blend was well tolerated in its population and caused less anxiety and fewer headaches than caffeine alone. That is one trial, not a full safety profile. If you are sensitive to stimulants, pregnant, or managing a health condition, talk to a clinician before using any caffeine-based product. Individual tolerance to stimulants varies widely.

The Stack the Egamer Study Pointed Toward, Minus the Anxiety

The most useful thing the Tartar trial left behind is a direction: theacrine and methylliberine layered onto caffeine sharpened reaction time and inhibitory control while quieting the anxiety and headaches caffeine alone produced. That is the exact principle Roon is built on.

Honesty matters here. Roon uses the same three compounds the study tested, but the per-pouch doses are lower: 80 mg caffeine, 25 mg methylliberine (Dynamine), and 5 mg theacrine (TeaCrine). The study used 125 mg, 75 mg, and 50 mg. Roon also adds 60 mg of L-theanine, which the egamer trial did not include, to further support calm, steady focus. So Roon is not the study's formula in a pouch, and it is not a substitute for sleep, training, or a clinician's advice if stimulants affect you.

What it shares with the research is the design logic: a sublingual pouch built for a 5 to 10 minute onset and 6 to 8 hours of focus, aiming for the sharp end of caffeine without the jittery edge. If that is the trade-off you have been chasing, try Roon and judge it against your own clock.

Written by Roon Team