Is Caffeine a Cognitive Enhancer?

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of caffeine on cognition were reviewed based on the large body of literature available on the topic. Caffeine does not usually affect performance in learning and memory tasks, although caffeine may occasionally have facilitatory or inhibitory effects on memory and learning. Caffeine facilitates learning in tasks in which information is presented passively; in tasks in which material is learned intentionally, caffeine has no effect. Caffeine facilitates performance in tasks involving working memory to a limited extent, but hinders performance in tasks that heavily depend on working memory, and caffeine appears to rather improve memory performance under suboptimal alertness conditions. Most studies, however, found improvements in reaction time. The ingestion of caffeine does not seem to affect long-term memory. At low doses, caffeine improves hedonic tone and reduces anxiety, while at high doses, there is an increase in tense arousal, including anxiety, nervousness, jitteriness. The larger improvement of performance in fatigued subjects confirms that caffeine is a mild stimulant. Caffeine has also been reported to prevent cognitive decline in healthy subjects but the results of the studies are heterogeneous, some finding no age-related effect while others reported effects only in one sex and mainly in the oldest population. In conclusion, it appears that caffeine cannot be considered a 'pure' cognitive enhancer. The indirect action of caffeine on arousal, mood and concentration contributes in large part to its cognitive enhancing properties.

The effect of caffeine ingestion on functional performance in older adults

“…Moreover, caffeine has been reported to improve concentration (7), attention, psychomotor performance (7,8), and can help sustain attention during demanding tasks (7), with such changes being augmented as a result of exercise (8,9). In light of this, a recent review identified that there was a dearth of data reporting the effects of caffeine on exercise in older adults and this topic merited further scrutiny due to the reported performance enhancing effects in younger populations (4).…”

Caffeine Consumption among Zayed University Students in Dubai, United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…This results in the side effects of caffeine outweighing the benefits that consumers seek [20]. While it is indeed true that caffeine boosts moods, alertness and long-term memory, it is advisable to consume recommended proportions of caffeine [20].…”

“…While individuals respond differently to stimulants, research has found that caffeine has both positive and negative effects on the body, such as anxiety, insomnia, tachycardia, irritability, Broncho-pulmonary dysplasia and muscle tremors [5,8,16,18,20].…”

The effect of acute caffeine ingestion on coincidence anticipation timing in younger and older adults

“…These results add support to prior claims that caffeine ingestion may enhance performance where cognitive and/or perceptual-motor skills are important. 24,25 To some extent the positive impact of caffeine ingestion on such performance is not unexpected. Caffeine ingestion has measureable performance-enhancing abilities.…”

“…Such a suggestion is congruent with prior work, suggesting more effective attentional focusing is one of the main mechanisms by which caffeine enhances cognitive and perceptual performance. 2,24 The increased attentional capacity resulting from ingestion of a CNS activator may therefore enable more focused allocation of resources to a given task than without caffeine.…”