Caffeine.

As mentioned by Washington Post (2015) reports, two billion cups of coffee are
consumed worldwide each day. Caffeine and an organic molecule called methylxanthine are
classified as CNS stimulants. A number of studies have demonstrated the effect of caffeine
consumption on cognitive function in humans and animals. To study the effects that caffeine
has on brain health is of great importance in view of the enormous number of people around
the world who are taking it.

An article mentions Furber (2018), that people start their day with coffee, they turn
to coffee when they need to concentrate, and they rely on coffee to get them through periods
of hard or late work. Caffeine is the most frequently consumed psycho stimulant and second
most popular beverage (after water). Caffeine is considered a psychoactive substance,
which may be found naturally or artificially, as synthetic coffee is commonly added to food
and beverages to increase the level of stimulants. He stated that there are some

As per the findings by Mahoney et al (2018) in the article “Intake Of Caffeine From
All Sources And Reasons For Use By College Students”, students provided multiple reasons
for caffeine use including: to feel awake (79%); enjoy the taste (68%); the social aspects of
consumption (39%); improve concentration (31%); increase physical energy (27%); improve
mood (18%); and alleviate stress (9%). Which means that most of them likely choose
caffeinated beverages due to the flavor and only having the cognitive effects to follow suit as
part of the benefits they utilize.

Furthermore, students stated that in an effort to focus better during stressful

situations, such exams, they will take coffee (Devi et al, 2018; Bucher et al, 2019; Alfawaz
et al, 2020). Additionally, in an effort to improve their academic performance, students will
use caffeine to postpone falling asleep, giving them more time for studying (Kepershoek et
al, 2018). After consumption of caffeine, students experience sleep disruption and fewer
hours of sleep (AlSharif et al, 2018; Kepershoek et al, 2018; Bucher et al, 2019; Jahrami
et al, 2020; Eduviere et al, 2021; Wang and Biro, 2021). Students experience specific
sleep problems due to caffeine consumption, such as insomnia, and restlessness (Jahrami
et al, 2020; Wang and Biro, 2021). Caffeine also delays the onset of sleep, which is actually
a commonly cited reason for its intake (Kepershoek et al, 2018; Jahrami et al, 2020;
Eduviere et al, 2021).

According to Sherman et al (2016), although students drink caffeinated beverages to

feel more awake, it is unclear whether these actually improve performance. After consuming
coffee (caffeinated or decaffeinated), [college-age adults] completed implicit and explicit
memory tasks in the early morning and late afternoon. There is only a blurred borderline of
how it actually affects the overall performance.

Although some studies said that caffeine helped improve memorization skills,
surprisingly few reliable studies, however, have shown that caffeine actually improves
memory performance and even fewer studies have considered how caffeine interacts with
time of day. Based on the findings of Borota et al. (2014), whether caffeine has an
enhanced effect on long term memory in humans is currently unknown. In order to assess
the effects of caffeine on consolidation of memory, they used a behavioural discrimination
test carried out after study participants had been administered it. Caffeine was enhanced
performance 24 hours after administration according to an inverted U-shaped dose-response
curve; this effect was specific to consolidation and not retrieval. It is concluded that in
humans caffeine has an additive effect on the consolidation of lifelong memories.

On the other hand, an article concluded that perceptions for consuming caffeine were
feelings of alertness, experiencing caffeine withdrawal symptoms, feeling of energy and
ability to work over long periods of time after having caffeine. Participants reported that they
consume caffeine because it makes them feel more alert (83.4%), they experience caffeine
withdrawal without caffeine (83%) and caffeine makes them feel more energetic (80.6%)
(Maqsood et al., 2020).

According to the study of Sydney Wingfield (2021) stated that even though current
studies have explored various aspects of caffeine’s influence on specific areas of cognition
relevant to their own studies, there is a lack of research on how it influences academic
settings. Within the present study, it is believed that caffeine usage will not cause a
significant improvement in individual academic performance despite of the known
physiological and cognitive effects on the students. Results from viewing the students’
perception of caffeine in relation to schoolwork and cognition lean more toward the attitude
that caffeine consumption is in fact not beneficial to overall academic and cognitive
enhancement. While students reported mixed ideas on whether or not they believe caffeine
to be beneficial based off the phase one survey, conclusions from phase two results cannot
draw a direct link between caffeine consumption and positive increase in cognitive abilities or
academic performance.

Cognitive Performance