Caffeine and Short Term Memory

Paper Summary:

This study discusses the question of whether caffeine actually does stimulate the nervous system in such as way that it improves short-term memory. More specifically, the study supports the hypothesis that a group of male students who drank caffeinated coffee prior to taking a short-term memory test will perform better in terms of accuracy and speed than a group of male students that drank decaffeinated coffee before the test. The focus of the study is on a single research question: "Does caffeine improve the short term memory in male college students?" The paper concludes with an evaluation of the efficacy of the study, noting that, from the results obtained in the study, one cannot determine that caffeine improves short-term memory.

Outline:
Introduction
Understanding Memory
Significance of Study
Hypothesis and Research Questions
Literature Review
Methodology
Results
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Memory refers to the way in which humans store information for retrieval at a later time. Memory is the key to learning. Memory begins with a stimulus that is received through the five senses. The brain receives the message and sorts the data according to similarities and differences to other information that it already has in storage. It categorizes the information and places it in a location so that the information can be retrieved at a later date.
"We have several types of memory, one is short-term memory and the other is long-term memory. Short-term memory might only last for a few minutes. A piece of information must enter short-term memory before it can enter long-term memory (Singleton, 2006). Working memory acts as the central processing hub for short-term memory. A stimulus might involve several types of information coming in. Working memory collects them and integrates them so that they can be forwarded to the proper locations in the brain. One example of working memory might be when a person smells smoke, feels heat, and hears a crackling noise. These pieces of information all come from different sensory organs. The working memory integrates them and sends them to the area of the brain where they will be interpreted (Singleton, 2006). These pieces of information might not mean danger when taken individually, but taken together; they will most likely be interpreted as danger."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, K., Revelle, W., & Lynch, M. (2004). Caffeine, impulsivity, and memory scanning: A comparison of two explanations for the Yerkes-Dodson Effect. Neuroscience Letters. 367 (3), 327-331.
• Bichler, A.; Swenson, A.; & Harris, M. (2006). A combination of caffeine and taurine has no effect on short term memory but induces changes in heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure. Amino Acids. 31 940, 471-476.
• Moo-Puc, R., Villanueva-Toledo, J., Arankowsky-Sandoval, G., Cercera, F., and Gongora-Alfaro, J. (2004). Treatment with subthreshold doses of caffeine plus trihexyphenidyl fully restores locomotion and exploratory activity in reserpinized rats. Laboratorio de Neurofisiologia, Departamento de Neurociencias, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales. No,. 490.
• Singleton., J. (2006) Memory Enhancement. Aging and Technology Research. Retrieved June 28, 2007 from http://www.ed-online.net/Knowledge/Articles/meory enhancemnt.html.
• Sternberg, S. (1966). High-speed scanning in human memory. Science, 153, 652-654.

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