Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Stimulating memory consolidation

Nature Neuroscience volume 17, pages 151–152 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

A study in this issue of Nature Neuroscience reports that administering caffeine to humans immediately after memory encoding enhances consolidation, as reflected by improved performance in a memory test a day later.

Most readers of this publication are undoubtedly familiar—maybe very familiar—with caffeine, a common CNS stimulant that produces increased wakefulness for several hours after ingestion. Low doses of caffeine have been shown to have positive effects on several measures of cognition in humans, including attention, processing speed and, in some cases, working memory1. Although most strategic users of caffeine (including these authors) consume it to increase their alertness during upcoming cognitive tasks, a study in this issue of Nature Neuroscience demonstrates a surprising relationship between caffeine and cognition. Borota et al.2 show that caffeine administered to human subjects immediately after learning improves memory 1 d later, a result that suggests caffeine can enhance memory consolidation.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Effect of post-encoding caffeine on memory.

Katie Vicari

References

  1. Nehlig, A. J. Alzheimers Dis. 20 (suppl. 1), S85–S94 (2010).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Borota, D. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 17, 201–203 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wright, G.A. et al. Science 339, 1202–1204 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cunha, R.A. & Agostinho, P.M. J. Alzheimers Dis. 20 (suppl. 1), S95–S116 (2010).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Castellano, C. Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 48, 255–260 (1976).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kopf, S.R., Melani, A., Pedata, F. & Pepeu, G. Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 146, 214–219 (1999).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Simons, S.B., Caruana, D.A., Zhao, M. & Dudek, S.M. Nat. Neurosci. 15, 23–25 (2012).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bakker, A., Kirwan, C.B., Miller, M. & Stark, C.E.L. Science 319, 1640–1642 (2008).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lacy, J.W., Yassa, M.A., Stark, S.M., Muftuler, L.T. & Stark, C.E.L. Learn. Mem. 18, 15–18 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Norman, K.A. & O'Reilly, R.C. Psychol. Rev. 110, 611–646 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yassa, M.A. & Stark, C.E.L. Trends Neurosci. 34, 515–525 (2011).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bramham, C.R. & Messaoudi, E. Prog. Neurobiol. 76, 99–125 (2005).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Bekinschtein, P. et al. Cell Rep. 5, 759–768 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Costa, M.S. et al. Neurochem. Int. 53, 89–94 (2008).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Groch, S. et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology 36, 1342–1350 (2011).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Serra E. Favila and Brice A. Kuhl are in the Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York, USA.,

    Serra E Favila & Brice A Kuhl

Authors
  1. Serra E Favila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brice A Kuhl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brice A Kuhl.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Favila, S., Kuhl, B. Stimulating memory consolidation. Nat Neurosci 17, 151–152 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3638

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3638

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing