Raising Real Men

A new study finds that caffeine has a greater effect on boys than girls:

The study, which was published in Behavioural Pharmacology, looked at how consuming caffeinated beverages affected children between 12 and 17 years old. It found that boys would work significantly longer at a computer game to win a caffeinated soda than girls would.

Side note: I bet further study would find that boys work harder at a computer game if the prize is a raw hot dog, or a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, or a bowl of steam. This is research? But never mind that.

The study also controlled for factors including regular caffeine consumption, thirst and boredom.

Jennifer R. Temple, lead researcher and neurobiologist at University of Buffalo, said she expected caffeinated drinks to work most strongly on those in the study who routinely consumed the most caffeine, regardless of sex. Instead, the results revealed a relationship between gender and the desire for caffeinated soda.

“We aren’t sure (why boys responded more), but we speculate that it could have to do with circulating hormones and their effect on the metabolism of caffeine,” Temple said.

Read the story without Hal’s snarky comments, in Discovery, here.