Hot Topic
COFFEE MEMORIES
Kristina Eklund Ryan, Associate Art Director
Coffee and cramming have always been a necessary combination
for college students gearing up for finals. Now, a
new study reveals that such coffee drinking habits may be
useful for more than staying up to cram – it may actually
help students remember what they read!
According to the study, which was presented at the
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), caffeine
helps stimulate the parts of the brain tied to short-term
memory and concentration. The study was conducted at
the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, and was
headed by Dr. Florian Koppelstaetter, a radiology expert.
Participants were divided into two groups, a test group
and a control group. The test group was then given coffee
containing 100 mg of caffeine (roughly the amount in
a large cup of coffee, depending on how it’s brewed),
while the control group was given a placebo. After twenty
minutes, all participants were given MRI brain scans while
being tested on recollection and concentration. The tests
only dealt with short-term memory, and consisted of showing
the participants a series of letters and then asking them
to recollect the letters a short while later. The results showed
that the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that controls
short term memory, attention, concentration, etc.) was
more active in those participants that had ingested the
caffeinated beverage, and their recall was more accurate.No studies were performed on how long the memory enhancing effects of caffeine actually
last.
So, coffee may indeed be a helpful part in cramming for exams, but even if it does help
memory and concentration, chances are we’ll all keep drinking coffee for a completely
different reason - flavor.
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