Caffeine improves memory performance during distraction in middle-aged, but not in young or old subjects
✍ Scribed by E. Hogervorst; W. J. Riedel; J. A. J. Schmitt; J. Jolles
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 141 KB
- Volume
- 13
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6222
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The present study evaluated the eect of caeine (225 mg) on cognitive performance in young, middle-aged, and old subjects in a placebo-controlled parallel groups design (n 60). Groups were matched for level of education and sex. Positive eects of caeine, as compared to placebo, were found in middle-aged subjects in the ®rst trial of the word learning test. In contrast, caeine had negative eects on the speed of searching short-term memory in young subjects. Caeine had no eect on the intercept, which is an indicator for sensorimotor speed, of a memory scanning task. The middle-aged subjects appeared to regularly consume twice as much caeine as the young and old subjects. These results were similar to earlier ®ndings in a large population study. Although statistical analyses with habitual caeine consumption as a covariate did not yield dierent results, a caeine withdrawal eect was hypothesized to be responsible for the reduced cognitive performance of middle-aged subjects receiving placebo. The habitual use of large amounts of caeine by middle-aged subjects may be a means to overcome the age-related decrease in cognitive functioning that is caused by changes in information processing.