Cognitive Enhancer Essay -- Medical Research

Introduction Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant on college campuses. It stimulates the central nervous system as it temporarily combats drowsiness, and restores alertness. Caffeine’s â€Å"powers† are the perfect anecdote for college student’s busy lives, but what if the opposite was true? Whether students barely come into contact with caffeine, and others use it habitually the study researchers whether caffeine has an effect on their cognitive processes. Daily caffeine regulars and sometime users consume it in many different ways, which are coffee, tea, cola drinks, candy bars, cocoa, cold and diet medications, and sleep prevention compounds, and they also consume it in various different doses. Caffeine is in about 100 medications, stimulants like NoDoz, cold preparations, appetite suppressants and mood elevating agents (Addicott, 2009). The psychophysiological effects of the stimulant include alertness, anxiety, heart rate, and these effects can result in a differe nt performance on different task (Acevedo, 1988). The research questions whether the effects of caffeine have a positive or negative impact on student’s cognitive abilities. During tasks that involve memory, and other cognitive processes the research will try to confirm the belief that caffeine is a cognitive enhancer. Whether students are in a withdrawn state, a normal caffeinated state, or just moderately use caffeine it has an effect on their memory, attention, planning, capacity, and psychomotor performance. Along with the effects of caffeine, student’s performance can be influence by other factors such as mood, the time of day, personality, intelligence, age, memory span, education, gender, socioeconomic status, occupation, smoking, expectancy, and/or alcoh... ... Hogervorst, E., Riedel, W.J., Schmitt A. J., Jolles, J. (1998) Caffeine Improves Memory Performance during Distraction in Middle-Aged, But Not in Young or Old Subjects. Human Psychopharmacology, Vol.13, 277-284 Ryan, L., Hatfield, C., Hofstetter, M. (2002). Caffeine Reduces Time of Day Effects on Memory Performance in Older Adults. Psychological Science. Vol.13, no.1, 68-71. Smith A, Sturgess W, Gallagher J. (1999) Effects of a Low Dose of Caffeine Given in Different Drinks on Mood and Performance. Human Psychopharmacology, 14, 473-482 Stafforda, L.D. & Yeomansb, M.R. (2005) Caffeine deprivation state modulates coffee consumption but Not Attentional bias for caffeine-related stimuli, Behavioral Pharmacology, 16,559–571 Warburton, D.M. (1995). Effects of caffeine on cognition and mood without caffeine abstinence, Psychopharmacology, 119, 66-70.