Don't we just love our morning coffee. Now there's even better news. Drinking coffee can lead to enhancing your long-term memory!

The study was led by Michael Yassa from the University of California, Irvine. 160 participants were asked to study images of objects and then randomly given a pill containing either 200 miligrams of caffeine - the same as two espressos, or a placebo.

Volunteers came back after 24 hours, and they took a memory test involving those images they had seen before, along with unseen images and images that were similar but not identical. They were asked to classify the images as old, new, or similar. Those who had consumed caffeine were better at identifying "similar" images.

The conclusion and suggestion is that caffeine enhances long-term memory by improving the process of memory consolidation. It doesn't, however help with memory retrieval.

Could this mean, a modest amount of coffee around the time you study could have a real impact on how well you retain information? Sounds just like that. Now time for a cup.

[Nature Neuroscience via New Scientist Image by Brian Legate under Creative Commons license]