How Coffee Helps You Remember Details Better

Don't feel too bad about that second cup of coffee--a new study from John Hopkins University has revealed that caffeine boosts memory.

The study showed that people are better at remembering details that distinguish similar things from each other at least 24 hours after having caffeine, The Washington Post reported.

Reportedly the first to show that caffeine enhances memory over a day, the paper was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"We've always known that caffeine has cognitive-enhancing effects, but its particular effects on strengthening memories and making them resistant to forgetting has never been examined in detail in humans," Michael Yassa, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University, told the Post.

Headed by undergraduate Daniel Borota, the team comprising Yassa and his colleagues gave participants a series of images to study along with timed doses of caffeine.

The participants were handed the images and then given either a 200-milligram caffeine tablet or a placebo five minutes afterward, according to the Post.

The 200 milligram-dose is about what the average adult gets daily, which is about the amount found in a strong cup of coffee or two small cups of coffee.

To measure caffeine levels, the participants gave saliva samples before taking the tablets as well as one, three and 24 hours later.

According to Yassa, the study shows "for the first time a specific effect of caffeine on reducing forgetting over 24 hours."

Participants were tested the next day to see if they could remember the images they were given to study. They were given visuals, which included some of the same images from the day before, some new ones and some that were similar but different.

The caffeine group had more members who could correctly identify new images as "similar" to images from the day before instead of identifying them as the same ones.

The study was the first to give caffeine to participants after they had viewed and studied the images instead of before.

"Almost all prior studies administered caffeine before the study session, so if there is an enhancement, it's not clear if it's due to caffeine's effects on attention, vigilance, focus or other factors," Yassa said. "By administering caffeine after the experiment, we rule out all of these effects and make sure that if there is an enhancement, it's due to memory and nothing else."