Consuming caffeine after learning or being exposed to new information can help enhance memory retention due to the increase of catecholamines in the brain which activate the memory systems. However, consuming caffeine prior to naps or non-rapid eye movement sleep can reduce the effectiveness of restorative effects and performance enhancement.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick discusses how research suggests that abstaining from caffeine prior to learning and then consuming it immediately afterward can improve memory retention, and shares tips on how to extract caffeine’s performance-enhancing effects.
Caffeine increases catecholamines such as adrenaline, dopamine and norepinephrine, which turns on the memory systems of the brain to capture recently absorbed information. Drinking caffeine and exercising for brief periods or doing cold exposure can enhance memory encoding effects of adrenaline and catecholamines.
Ingesting caffeine before a nap or non-sleep deep rest reduces the effectiveness of the nap or NSDR in restoring natural levels of alertness and focus, leading to performance diminishment. However, caffeine can improve mood, focus, and alertness on its own without the need for prior ingestion.