Can caffeine increase memory?

Many drugs are known to have an effect on memory. That a majority of the adult population of North America consumes caffeine on a daily basis begs the question whether caffeine improves memory. Sixty-four university students were randomly assigned to either the caffeine group or placebo group. In the caffeine group, a 200mg caffeine pill was administered while a 100mg lactose pill was administered to the placebo group. Participants were presented 40 words, one at a time for 3 seconds each. Participants then completed 2 memory tasks. One memory task required participants to recall the primed words and the other memory task required participants to complete word fragments of the primed words. The results showed no significant difference between the caffeine group and the placebo group on either of the memory tasks. Therefore, caffeine does not have a negative (or positive) effect on memory.