Johns Hopkins Researchers Find Caffeine Enhances Memory

Описание: Johns Hopkins Researchers Find Caffeine Enhances Memory
[Full story: http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/12/caffein...]

For some, it's the tradition of steeping tea leaves to brew the perfect cup of tea. For others, it's the morning shuffle to a coffee maker for a hot jolt of java. Then there are those who like their wake up with the kind of snap and a fizz usually found in a carbonated beverage.
Regardless of the routine, the consumption of caffeine is the energy boost of choice for millions to wake up or stay up. Now, however, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University have found another use for the stimulant: memory enhancer.
Michael Yassa, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, and his team of scientists, found that caffeine has a positive effect on long-term memory in humans. Their research, recently published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that caffeine enhances certain memories for up to 24 hours after it is consumed.
The lead author of the paper is Daniel Borota, an undergraduate student in Yassa's lab who received an undergraduate research award from Johns Hopkins to conduct this research.
Additional authors, all from Johns Hopkins, are: Elizabeth Murray, a research program coordinator in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences; John Toscano, professor in the Department of Chemistry; Gizem Kecili, a graduate student also in the chemistry department and Allen Chang, Maria Ly and Joseph Watabe, all undergraduates in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
This research was supported by grants number P50 AG05146 and R01 AG034613 from the National Institute on Aging as well as CHE-1213438 from the National Science Foundation.

Video by:
Johns Hopkins University Office of Communications
Producer/Editor/Photographer: Len Turner
Photographer: David Schmelick
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