TORONTO – Drinking a cup of coffee may wake you up in the morning, but that hot jolt of caffeine may even help jog your memory.
Whether it’s a cup of black tea, a morning espresso or an afternoon energy drink, there may be another purpose for your routine pick-me-up, John Hopkins University researchers say.
“We’ve always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects, but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans,” lead scientist Dr. Michael Yassa said.
He’s a professor of psychological and brain sciences. For the first time, his research suggests that caffeine “enhances” certain memories at least up to 24 hours.
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The study is based on more than 100 people. Scientists gave one group a 200 milligram caffeine pill – which is about the same as a mug of strong coffee – while another group received a placebo. The caffeine was doled out after five minutes of studying a series of images.
Over a 24-hour period, saliva samples were taken from the study’s subjects to monitor caffeine levels.
The next day, both groups were tested on their ability to recognize the images. Overall, the caffeinated group fared better at identifying the images.
Yassa says that if he gave the participants caffeine before the testing, it’d be hard to tell if it was the sole cause of better memory. That’s what sets it apart from other studies, he said.
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“It’s not clear if it’s due to caffeine’s effects on attention, vigilance, focus or other factors. By administering caffeine after the experiment, we rule out all of these effects and make sure that if there is an enhancement, it’s due to memory and nothing else,” said Yassa.
His next steps are to consider what brain mechanisms may be helping with this improved memory.
In the meantime, another study is giving coffee-drinkers reason to celebrate: moderate coffee-drinking doesn’t cause dehydration.
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While caffeine may be a diuretic, it doesn’t leave you thirsty, a U.K. study said. In this case, 50 men drank four mugs of black coffee or four mugs of water each day for three days. Meanwhile, their hydration statuses were recorded.
Turns out, there were no significant differences between both groups in hydration, urine volume and concentration.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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