COFFEE BOOSTS MEMORY IN SENIORS

A cup of joe can jog your memory,
especially if you're over age 65,
say researchers at the University of Arizona.
Memory in older adults often is best
in the morning and wanes in the late afternoon,
explains Lee Ryan,
lead author of the study and an
assistant professor of psychology.
She and her colleagues tested 40
active and independent seniors,
having them drink
caffeinated or non-caffeinated
coffee at 8 a.m. and at 4 p.m.,
and following each cup
with a standard test of memory.
Memory performance declined significantly
between morning and afternoon
in people who drank the decaf,
while people who drank the high-octane
stuf fshowed no such effect.
While she is not making an across-the-board
endorsement of coffee,
Ryan does say that
"administration of a simple stimulant,
caffeine, in a dose that most
adults readily consume daily,
ameliorates memory impairment
arising from time-of-day effects in older adults."