Caffeine could possibly increase memory retention
Caffeine has recently been correlated with enhanced memory function in a study by Michael Yassa and a team of scientists from the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California. The study, which was published in the Jan. 12, 2014 edition of the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, shows an increased memory performance in those who were tested 24 hours after caffeine was administered.
Individuals who were dosed with caffeine showed higher levels of memory retention 24 hours after ingesting it compared with those who received placebos. The scientists concluded that caffeine can indeed enhance long term memory; an idea hitherto unconfirmed.
The 73 participants chosen for the study did not regularly consume caffeine. They were exposed to a series of photographs, and then half were given a 200mg caffeine pill, while the other half were given placebos.
The groups were then exposed to another set of photographs 24 hours later. Some of the photos were new, while many were similar to, or the same as, those from the last set.
The placebo group could identify fewer of the similarities and differences in the photo sets than those who were dosed with caffeine. The pattern separation ability shown by those who ingested caffeine involved higher memory retention levels.
However, bingeing on caffeine during all waking won’t provide you with a super-human memory. While less than 200mg of caffeine was found to have no effect on memory, having more than 200mg did not further improve the participants’ scores from the base improvement.
The cause of this boosted memory is yet to be confirmed, and scientists are still figuring out how caffeine works to improve pattern separation.