The Effect of Recent Consumption of Caffeine-Containing Foodstuffs on Neuropsychological Tests in the Elderly

Abstract

We investigated the effect of recent intake of caffeine-containing foodstuffs (CCFS) on a group of elderly participants (age range 67–95 years) on a series of neuropsychological tests. There was no significant effect of CCFS intake on performance in any of the tests in the battery used. However, a significant interaction effect was found between age and CCFS consumption on scores of some neuropsychological tests. In these tests, participants with recent consumption of CCFS show a linear decrease in performance with increasing age, a pattern not seen for those that have no CCFS in their system. Accuracy in the neuropsychological assessment is of great importance when determining whether someone has a cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease. We therefore propose that recent consumption of CCFS should be taken into account when scoring the neuropsychological assessment.

Time of day and caffeine influence some neuropsychological tests in the elderly.

“…Lesk, Honey, and de Jager (2009) investigated the effects of caffeine-containing foodstuffs (CCFS) on cognitive performance in a group of elderly participants and found that in those who had consumed CCFS up to four hours prior to testing there were significant interaction effects between age and tests of processing speed, semantic memory, visuospatial associative RUNNING HEAD: Time of day, caffeine and neuropsychological test scores 5 memory and EFs. This interaction was not seen for participants who had not consumed CCFS prior to testing.…”

“…They are timed for 20 seconds and are required to complete as many pairs as possible. This same method was used in Lesk et al (2009) to allow direct comparisons between the two studies.…”

The Effect of Prior Caffeine Consumption on Neuropsychological Test Performance: A Placebo-Controlled Study

“…The aim of the present paper was to extend the results of Lesk et al [6] by investigating whether 200 mg of pure caffeine could influence scores on cognitive tests in the over 60-year-old participants. No main effect of caffeine or placebo was found on any of the tests administered.…”

“…Following on from Lesk et al [6], to formally assess whether prior caffeine consumption has an effect on performance with increasing age, all cognitive tests were submitted to a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), with the drug group (caffeine or placebo) entered into the model as a fixed factor and age as a covariate. An interaction term was included in the model.…”

“…Previously, Lesk and Womble [4] found strong interactions between prior consumption of 200 mg of caffeine (approximately the same amount of caffeine in one strong cup of coffee) or placebo and phonological priming as well as on the tip-of-the-tongue state in both young participants [4] and in a patient with anomic aphasia [5]. Lesk et al [6] then investigated the effect of prior caffeine intake on neuropsychological test scores in the elderly. This study used a questionnaire that simply asked participants about their intake of caffeine-containing foodstuffs (CCFS; tea, coffee, chocolate and cola) 4 h before testing.…”