Caffeine and Cognitive Performance - Caffeine: Chemistry, Analysis, Function and Effects - page 281

Finally, in order to better understand the effects of caffeine on cognition it is
necessary to use neuroimaging techniques that allow us to record the brain
changes associated to the execution of the different cognitive skills. The study
of the effects of caffeine consumption that add information on the brain areas
involved and their degree of activation, together with behavioral recordings,
will undoubtedly be beneficial both to increase our theoretical knowledge and
to be more specific about the practical applications that may arise.

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Summary Points

N This chapter focuses on the findings, mainly during the last decade, on the
effects of caffeine on the cognitive performance of healthy subjects.
N Caffeine enhances the performance in attention tasks (speed and accuracy)
even with the administration of low doses, both in habitual and non-
habitual consumers.
N Caffeine improves motor-skill performance in real-life motor tasks such as
handwriting and simulated driving.
N More beneficial effects of caffeine in attentional and-or psychomotor tasks
were observed with the administration of low doses of caffeine in situations
with a deficit in activation, and working at night or during sleep

deprivation.
N The administration of caffeine does not improve either speed or precision in
learning and memory tasks of healthy subjects (immediate and delayed
recall).
N Research has shown that caffeine consumption is reliably associated with
positive subjective effects even in the absence of acute withdrawal effects,
this being dose-dependent between 100-400 mg without practically any
adverse effects.

N

Although there are few studies on the possible sex differences in caffeine
effects, women seem to be less prone than men to noticing the effects of
caffeine on cognitive performance.

N

Caffeine consumption is not recommended in children and adolescents since
these may be more vulnerable than adults to the negative effects of caffeine
and to develop cross-sensitization of the dopaminergic neural reward to
other substances and drugs.

N

The lifetime coffee consumption may have a protective effect on cognitive
performance, especially among women. The data suggest that the
consumption has to be higher than 300 mg of caffeine per day and that it
is preferable to drink ground coffee (filter and espresso).

N

We need more systematic research on the effects of caffeine, incorporating
the study of factors known to affect cognitive performance, such as
circadian rhythmicity, level of education or personality traits that are
related to stress, to mention a few.