Coffee Perks Up Short-Term Memory

Study finds equivalent of two cups of java boosts brain activity

(HealthDay News) -- Those morning cups of java might sharpen your memory so you can better tackle the tasks of the day, a new Austrian study suggests.
Scientists at the Innsbruck Medical University discovered that 100 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of two cups of coffee, increased activity in the part of the brain that is responsible for short-term memory, and improved performance on a test that measures memory function.

"We found modulation of a distinct brain area within the working memory network was more activated under caffeine compared to the placebo condition. This is the specific brain region which would be used for short-term memory function," said study author Dr. Florian Koppelstatter, a radiology fellow at the university.

These functions include being able to prioritize information to manage tasks efficiently, as well as plan new tasks and deal with stored information, he said. An example would be the process of looking up a number in a telephone book, and remembering it so you could dial the number.

Koppelstatter was to present the findings Wednesday at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting, in Chicago.

Caffeine, found in coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate, is the most widely used stimulant in the world, with a global, per-person average of 76 milligrams a day. Americans consume an average of 238 milligrams of caffeine daily, which is the equivalent of four-and-a-half cups of coffee. Scandinavians have the highest daily caffeine intake -- 400 milligrams daily, Koppelstatter said.

For the study, Koppelstatter and his colleagues recruited 15 males between the ages of 26 and 47. Over a two-day period that included fasting and no exposure to caffeine or nicotine, each man was given, on alternate days, 100 milligrams of caffeine dissolved in water and then just water. Twenty minutes after taking their drinks, they underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and then were tested to assess their working memory skills.

The fMRI showed that caffeine increased activity in a brain region in the front lobe, where a part of the working memory network is located, and in the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that controls attention. None of the men showed an increase in activity in this area of the brain when they drank the placebo.

In an accompanying test, the men were presented with a randomized sequence of capital letters, and they had to decide whether the current letter was the same as or different from the letter presented two letters before. They were asked to respond as quickly as possible by tapping response pads with their fingers.

After consuming caffeine, all the men showed a tendency toward improved reaction times on the test, compared to when they had no caffeine, Koppelstatter said.

"It doesn't mean that without caffeine you don't have activation in this part of the brain, but with caffeine you have modulation of the brain, which means there is more activation," he said.

Dr. Bruce Rubin, a neurologist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said this study sheds new light on how caffeine works on the brain.

He added that previous research had shown caffeine improves attention, and that any improved memory function identified was assumed to be a result of better focus -- "You have to be attentive to remember."

"But this study showed that caffeine had a direct effect on the networks and processing of the memory," Rubin said.

Koppelstatter said the mechanism by which the caffeine acts on the brain is largely unknown, but is related to the way the substance reacts on the small blood vessels of the brain and on the nerve cells in the brain.

While two cups of coffee might improve your memory, don't think that drinking more will turn you into an intellectual, Koppelstatter noted.

"The positive effects of caffeine don't increase in a linear way," he said, and too much caffeine can make you more anxious, counteracting the positive effects the substance can provide.

By Janice Billingsley
HealthDay Reporter

Freeway Service Patrol (LA County)

Whether it's a flat tire, an empty gas tank, or an overheated radiator, chances are that one day, you'll need help on the freeway. Thanks to the Freeway Service Patrol, help is on the way!
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Another link about The Metro FSP Program.

Google Maps Plugin

I was listening [The Mac Attack] podcast episode #11 and I thought Google Maps Plugin sounds good. The Google Maps Plugin enables you lookup your Apple Address Book (Mac Only) address using Google Maps as well as get directions between your address book addresses. Google Maps supports street maps for the United States, the UK, Canada and Japan at the time this was written.

The new iMac G5 and the new Video iPod

Mac did it again!
New products already!

New iMac is built in iSight.
You can go to apple website for more detail.

The new iPod, holdsup to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos, and 150 hours of video (60GB $399).
7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, 75 hours of video (30GB $299)
You can enjoy Music, Books, Photos, Podcasts & Vidcasts, Home Movies, Music Videos, games and calendar.
....no phone? no camera? no radio? no TV? no video recording? no ATM system?
I'm not still satisfied with iPod...I know this is Music Player originally but cell phones in Japan can do all.
Please check apple website for more new iPod detail.

Security updates summary for October 2005

Ok, Windows users!
Microsoft posted Security Updates today.
Please Protect your PC ;)

PHP Tutorials websites

My friend, Jim S. emailed me some useful PHP Tutorial links. Thanks, Jim!

• WeberDev.com - PHP & MySQL Code examples, tutorials
http://www.weberdev.com

• Free PHP Code Snippets
http://www.free-php.org

• php-editors
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• sitepoint : Fresh Thinking for Web Developers
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Virus Alert: Sober.r prevention and cure

Virus Name: Sober.r (w32.sober.r@mm)
Virus brief: Sober.r is a classic mass-mailing e-mail worm that spreads itself to addresses harvested from infected PCs, and it may slow down e-mail services during the height of this infection.
Aliases: CME-151; Sober.p (Computer Associates, Sophos), Sober.q (Symantec), sober.y (Panda), Sober.ac (Trend Micro).
Rank: Medium risk
Type: Mass-mailing e-mail worm (German and English versions).
What it does: Harvests e-mail addresses from infected machines.
Means of transmission: Sober.r arrives as e-mail with a ZIP file attachment named either KlassenFoto.zip, or pword_change.zip.
How to recognize: E-mail referencing password changes with a ZIP file attachment.
Who is at risk: Windows users. Because Sober.r spreads via e-mail, does not open remote access to your PC, and may not damage system files, this worm rates a 5 on the CNET/ZDNet Virus Meter.

FROM: TechRepublic

I just received email from TechRepublic.
Please be careful, Windows users!

yydream blog begins

BLOG is really popular nowadays.
I like Google and it has blogging system.
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