True or False?

Not everyone agrees on what “facts” are undeniable, but I think this is one we can all agree on: we all need sleep. We need it to be able to think, function and live a productive life (I think every one of us knows how unproductive we can be when we’re low on sleep). When we’re low on sleep, we often look to “pick-me-ups,” like caffeine, to, well…pick us up from our slumbered state. Caffeine does more than just give us a jolt of energy, though. It also enables us to remember things that did or did not happen.
Now, before I elaborate, I’m not about to go into an in-depth spiel extolling the benefits of caffeine. Nothing replaces a quality night’s sleep like sleep itself. But according to research done on the topic of false memories, caffeine can help us determine which memories are true and which are false.

Researchers studied this false memory phenomenon first by analyzing the effects lack of sleep had on two different groups of participants. The researchers from the University of Lubeck, Germany, asked participants to remember certain words that they showed the participants. The words shown all had one thing in common. For example, if the researchers showed the participants words like “Italian,” “cheese,” “white,” “tomatoes,” and “oven,” the one thing they all have in common is that they’re all related to pizza. While pizza was the link these words had with another, the word “pizza” would not be among the words shown to the participants (this is just an example; I’m not sure what the actual words were that participants were asked to remember).

They then had one group sleep for a night while the others would not sleep. The next day, when both groups were shown all the same words again, the researchers included other words that weren’t part of the original list. To continue with the example above, the researchers would include words like “sauce,” “slices,” and “crust.” Then they asked the participants which, if any, of the words were not part of the original assortment shown to them. Here’s what they found: those that were sleep-deprived were more likely to say that all the words were part of the original assortment, when in fact only a few of them were; meanwhile, the well-rested participants were more likely to segregate what words were and weren’t among the originals.

This being the case, the researchers put their heads together and asked, “What if caffeine was thrown into the mix? Might that help someone better recall what is accurate and inaccurate?” Well, when the researchers asked one group of participants to drink caffeine and one not to after both had been deprived of sleep, the group given the caffeine were better at determining what was accurate and inaccurate when given a similar test not long after the caffeine had been administered (Those given caffeine were 10 percent more likely to segregate what was accurate and inaccurate).

So the question for researchers to determine is when are memories formed and what causes false memories: a lack of sleep or is there something else at work when we’re asked to remember something specific? The fact that caffeine helped the sleep-deprived generate fewer false memories suggests that a lack of sleep might not be the ultimate cause of false memories.

As with most studies, more research needs to be done before a truly accurate portrait can be painted. In the meantime, at the very least, the research suggests that caffeine can be helpful when taken in moderation and when you have a sleep debt. The key is moderation. But I say again, nothing replaces a good night’s like sleep itself. I think the researchers would stand by me in that sentiment.