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Not yet recruiting NCT07696052

Phosphatidylserine, Taurine, and Caffeine for Cognitive Fatigue in Professional Football Players

No phase Interventional Mental Fatigue Cognitive Performance Athletic Performance Soccer Performance

For patients and families

In plain language

An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.

What is being studied
The protocol lists: Placebo, Taurine Plus Caffeine, Taurine, Caffeine, and Phosphatidylserine.
Who it may be relevant to
Registry conditions: Mental Fatigue, Cognitive Performance, Athletic Performance, Soccer Performance. Basic parameters: 18 years — 37 years · Male.
What needs checking
Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
Where it takes place
Poland
Next step
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Official title

Neurocognitive Fatigue Resistance, Visual Search Efficiency, and Tactical Decision-Making After Phosphatidylserine-Containing Taurine-Caffeine Supplementation in Professional Male Football Players

Overview

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial will evaluate the effects of 28 days of taurine-caffeine supplementation with or without phosphatidylserine on neurocognitive fatigue resistance, visual search efficiency, and football-specific tactical decision-making in professional male football players. Sixty-two male outfield football players from two professional clubs will be randomized to placebo, taurine plus caffeine, or taurine plus caffeine plus phosphatidylserine. Laboratory and field-based outcomes will be assessed at baseline and after the supplementation period.

Detailed description

This study is designed to determine whether adding phosphatidylserine to a taurine-caffeine supplementation strategy supports attentional control, efficient visual search, and accurate tactical decision-making under acute neurocognitive load in professional male football players.

Participants will complete familiarization, baseline laboratory testing, baseline field testing, 28 days of supplementation, post-intervention laboratory testing, and post-intervention field testing. The laboratory protocol will include a high-load Stroop/Flanker task followed by a football-specific video decision-making task with screen-based eye-tracking. The video task will include offensive and transitional football situations requiring players to select the most appropriate tactical option under time pressure. Some clips will require inhibition of an immediately attractive but suboptimal forward action.

The primary outcome will be the change in tactical inhibitory decision accuracy under neurocognitive load from baseline to post-intervention. Secondary outcomes will include overall decision accuracy, decision time, impulsive tactical errors, mental fatigue, Stroop/Flanker reaction-time variability, time to first fixation on the optimal option, dwell time on the optimal option, situational awareness accuracy, and field-based reactive passing decision performance. Field-based transfer will be assessed using a Reactive Passing Decision Test, the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test, and standardized small-sided games.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplement Placebo
    Inert placebo matched with the active supplements for appearance, number of units, and packaging. The placebo will be administered for 28 days.
  • Dietary supplement Taurine Plus Caffeine
    Taurine 1500 mg/day plus caffeine 200 mg/day administered for 28 days. On training and testing days, the supplement will be consumed approximately 60 minutes before the main training session or testing procedure. On non-training days, it will be consumed at a consistent morning time.
  • Dietary supplement Taurine, Caffeine, and Phosphatidylserine
    Taurine 1500 mg/day plus caffeine 200 mg/day plus phosphatidylserine 600 mg/day administered for 28 days. On training and testing days, the supplement will be consumed approximately 60 minutes before the main training session or testing procedure. On non-training days, it will be consumed at a consistent morning time.

Primary outcome measures

  • Change in Tactical Inhibitory Decision Accuracy Under Neurocognitive Load [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
Secondary outcome measures (9)
  • Change in Overall Football-Specific Decision Accuracy [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Football-Specific Decision Time [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Impulsive Tactical Errors [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Stroop/Flanker Reaction-Time Variability [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Post-Task Mental Fatigue [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Time to First Fixation on the Optimal Tactical Option [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Dwell Time on the Optimal Tactical Option [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Situational Awareness Accuracy [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]
  • Change in Reactive Passing Decision Test Accuracy [Time frame: Baseline and 28 days of supplementation]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

  • Male professional outfield football players aged 18 to 37 years.
  • First-team players or selected U19 players aged 18 years or older who are regularly integrated into first-team training.
  • Regular participation in club training.
  • At least 5 years of systematic football training experience.
  • Free from injury or illness limiting full participation in training and testing.
  • Normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
  • Ability to complete the laboratory and field-based testing procedures.
  • Written informed consent provided before participation.

Exclusion criteria

  • Goalkeepers.
  • Current injury or illness limiting full participation in testing.
  • Neurological disease.
  • Recent concussion or head trauma.
  • Uncorrected visual impairment.
  • Use of phosphatidylserine, nootropic agents, or strong stimulants during the previous 4 weeks.
  • Non-standard caffeine intake on testing days.
  • Failure to comply with pre-test standardization procedures.
  • Failed eye-tracker calibration.
  • Loss of more than 30% of gaze data during the football-specific decision-making task.
  • Withdrawal of consent.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation
Randomized
Model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple blind
Primary purpose
Other

Study locations

Poland · 2 centers
  • Professional Football Training Center — Lodz
  • Professional Football Training Center — Warsaw

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07696052 · MIZERA -4-TCPS-FOOT-2026

Primary sources (government registries)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗