Caffeine might enhance one's memory, research suggests. Long-term memory retention was found to be improved in participants who consumed a caffeine tablet equivalent of one to two cups of coffee both during and after performing a study session. Compared with participants who took a placebo with no caffeine, those who ingested caffeine were better at remembering images from previous study sessions and being able to differentiate them from other very similar images. Recognizing small differences in detail from a previous image requires the use of long-term memory storage. Researchers were not able to determine how exactly caffeine affects the brain mechanism for long-term memory, however.
More about caffeine:
- Memory might actually decrease after consuming higher levels of caffeine — roughly the equivalent of three cups of coffee.
- More than 80% of people in the US consume caffeine on a daily basis.
- One study found that women who drank four to five cups of caffeinated coffee per day reduced their risk of death by 16%, and men reduced theirs by 12%.