Java jolt

CAN'T REMEMBER where you left the remote? Clueless about where the car keys are? Have a cup of joe. A small study at the University of Arizona suggests that coffee helps jog your memory, especially around 3 or 4 p.m., when memory naturally starts to slide--and especially in older adults.

Using a verbal learning test, researchers quizzed 40 people at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The volunteers, all over age 65, were given a cup of coffee before each test--but only half were given the real thing; the rest got decaf. The decaf group "showed a significant decline in memory performance from morning to afternoon," according to the researchers. But the caffeine drinkers had little to no loss in their daily short-term memory.

Caffeine's memory-boosting benefits first came to light about four years ago, when British scientists found that morning coffee drinkers retain new information better than coffee abstainers. This latest study suggests that caffeine also fights memory fade-outs over the course of the day. Hold that thought.

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