Java Jogs Memory, Research Reveals

Researchers conducted a study with individuals who did not regularly eat or drink caffeinated products. Each received either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet five minutes after studying a series of images. The next day, both groups were tested on their ability to recognize images from the previous day’s study session.

On the test, some of the visuals were the same as from the day before, some were new additions and some were similar but not the same as the items previously viewed. More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the new images as “similar” to previously viewed images versus erroneously citing them as the same.

 The brain's ability to recognize the difference between two similar but not identical items, called pattern separation, reflects a deeper level of memory retention, the researchers said. Until now, caffeine’s effects on long-term memory had not been examined in detail.

Of the few studies done, the general consensus was that caffeine has little or no effect on long-term memory retention. The research is different from prior experiments because the subjects took the caffeine tablets only after they had viewed and attempted to memorize the images.

 For more information about the study, visit http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/12/caffeine-enhances-memory.