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
stuff showed 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."



Source(s)
2/01/2004


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