App and Caffeine Improve Executive Memory

A new app promises to make the most of caffeinated productivity.

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Optimizing your caffeine intake is the aim of a new app launched by two cognitive scientists from Penn State, and if it works as planned, not only might users be more alert at work, but also sleep more soundly at home.

Developed by Frank Ritter and Kuo-Chuan Yeh at Penn State’s Applied Cognitive Science Lab, and based on research on caffeine and stress sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, Caffeine Zone generates a color-coded line chart of the user’s predicted caffeine level over a 24-hour period based on the number and type of caffeinated drinks a user consumes and when they are consumed.

“It also shows a cognitive active zone, an area of caffeine level where most people will feel active, and sleep zone, an area of caffeine level where most people will be able to sleep,” Ritter wrote on his website.

The user selects from coffee, tea, or caffeine gum—or can customize data based on other options—and lists consumption history to track patterns. Different colors on the line chart represent areas optimal for different activities such as sleeping and thinking.

A study published in the New Scientist found that coffee improves short-term memory, or “executive memory,” and speeds up reaction times by acting on the brain’s prefrontal cortex.

Florian Koppelstätter, who carried out the research with colleagues at the Medical University at Innsbruck, Austria, performed a series of tests on subjects given either a placebo or actual caffeine.

"The group all showed activation of the working-memory part of the brain," Koppelstätter explains. "But those who received caffeine had significantly greater activation in parts of the prefrontal lobe, known as the anterior cingulate and the anterior cingulate gyrus. These areas are involved in 'executive memory,' attention, concentration, planning, and monitoring."

Of course, a highly functioning executive memory will only last so long unless accompanied by the occasional good night's sleep. And the Office of Naval Research's data not only helps maximize alertness and productivity, but ensures that by the time your head hits that pillow at the end of the day, you are darn well ready to sleep.