If you’re a coffee lover like me, you probably don’t need more excuses to drink coffee, but now and again I like to reflect on all the positive reasons I should continue my three cup a day habit….especially when I’m about to pay $3.50 for another cappuccino on a tough day!!
In a study by Borota, Murray, Keceli, Chang, Watabe, Ly, Toscano and Yassa (2014), the effects of Caffeine on long term memory were examined.
Participants were given a series of pictures to view and learn. After the task, they were then either given a caffeine tablet (containing 200mg of caffeine) or a placebo tablet.
The next day, the participants were administered the task again, with some images being the same and some different.
The “Caffeinated” participants were better able identify the similar images than the non-caffeinated group.
The researchers concluded that the group given the caffeine following the tasks were aided in the “consolidation” of long term memories rather than short term recall.
What are the implications of this? Learning something new? More reason to have a cup of coffee after each chapter read/study session/discussion/task practised etc, to help you to better consolidate those memories for long term learning!!
