Effects of Caffeine Consumption on Cognitive Function and Mood

Caffeine is found naturally in a variety of foods and beverages including coffee, tea, and chocolate and is the most widely consumed food/drug in the world. It is almost completely (99%) absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract into the blood stream and easily crosses the blood brain barrier. Caffeine is commonly known to cause alertness. It is believed to combat tiredness and replace it with mental awareness. Several studies have tested the effects of caffeine on mood in conjunction with cognitive performance, finding that while the latter may not have been significantly affected, the former was improved based on self-evaluation. For our study, we observed the effects of caffeine on cognitive performance and mood. A 0 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg dose of caffeine significantly improved performance on addition testing, short term memory, and mood tests but not sequence completion or reaction time