April 22/Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Investigators have examined "the effect of recent consumption of caffeine-containing foodstuffs on neuropsychological tests in the elderly." Researchers from Oxford, U.K., "investigated the effect of recent intake of caffeine-containing foodstuffs (CCFS) on a group of elderly participants (age range 67-95 years) on a series of neuropsychological tests. There was no significant effect of CCFS intake on performance in any of the tests in the battery used.

"However, a significant interaction effect was found between age and CCFS consumption on scores of some neuropsychological tests. In these tests, participants with recent consumption of CCFS show a linear decrease in performance with increasing age, a pattern not seen for those that have no CCFS in their system. Accuracy in the neuropsychological assessment is of great importance when determining whether someone has a cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease," wrote V.E. Lesk and colleagues, University of Oxford, Division of Medical Sciences.

The researchers concluded, "We therefore propose that recent consumption of CCFS should be taken into account when scoring the neuropsychological assessment."

Lesk and colleagues published their study in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders ("The effect of recent consumption of caffeine-containing foodstuffs on neuropsychological tests in the elderly." Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 2009;27(4):322-8).

For additional information, contact V.E. Lesk, University of Oxford, University of Oxford, Division of Medical Sciences, Oxford, U.K.

From the April 27, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition