A cup of coffee can increase memory power

A US study has shown that caffeine can sharpen your memories for at least 24 hours after it is consumed – long enough to cram for an exam the night before and sit the test the next day.

Caffeine seems to boost the way you lay down memory circuits in your brain, so that you can recall the memory more clearly later on.

Participants in the study, who didn’t regularly eat or drink caffeine, received a placebo or a 200mg caffeine tablet – the same as a large cup of coffee – five minutes after studying some images.

Study leader Michael Yassa, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, said: “Almost all prior studies administered caffeine before the study session, so if there’ is an enhancement, it is not clear if it is due to caffeine’s effects on attention, vigilance, focus or other factors.”                                                    

The next day, both groups were tested on how well they recognised images from the previous day. The caffeine group was significantly better at identifying them.

Usually, when we learn things, memory circuits are first stored in the brain in a temporary form that can easily be forgotten. They slowly consolidate into permanent memories.

These findings suggest caffeine makes this consolidation more efficient, but scientists are still not sure of the biochemical mechanism.

But go easy on the coffee if you’re thinking of trying out the caffeine memory booster.

Scientists point out the effect seems to tail off when volunteers take a higher dose, meaning more caffeine isn’t necessarily better.