Sanjay Gupta, MD: 4 Ways to Strengthen Your Memory

In a study published this year in the journal Nature Neuroscience, healthy subjects were shown a group of pictures; they were then shown a second round and asked to identify images similar to the ones in the first group. Those who were given caffeine pills after the first round performed better than those who were given placebos. How can caffeine enhance memory? One theory is that it blocks a molecule in the brain called adenosine from inhibiting norepinephrine, a hormone that helps consolidate information for later.