The Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise and Caffeine on Working Memory and Caffeine Withdrawal

Caffeine is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide. Although caffeine elicits cognitive benefits, there are concerns regarding caffeine’s effects on certain health domains. Acute, aerobic exercise has been shown to improve cognition. The effects of aerobic exercise in comparison to caffeine on working memory (WM) in non-caffeine and caffeine consumers remains unknown. Furthermore, the effects of aerobic exercise in reducing caffeine withdrawal symptoms has yet to be examined. In Phase I, twenty-nine non-caffeine and thirty caffeine consumers completed a WM assessment, followed by aerobic exercise and caffeine administration (counterbalanced). In Phase II, twenty-five caffeine consumers underwent a WM assessment and reported caffeine withdrawal symptoms following a 12-hour deprivation period. Aerobic exercise and caffeine administration improved WM accuracy in both types of consumers and reduced caffeine withdrawal symptoms. WM performance was not reduced following caffeine deprivation, hence whether exercise and caffeine could restore WM was not tested