Abstract
Recent claims in a prominent scientific journal, Nature Neuroscience (NN), have been widely received as shedding light on the effects of caffeine on memory. However, the experiments upon which the claims are based overlooked key psychopharmacologic features of caffeine exposure, including the processes of caffeine withdrawal and withdrawal reversal. Attention to those overlooked features is necessary to avoid premature conclusions and to illuminate accurately the mechanisms responsible for caffeine's complex and subtle effects. When given alternative opportunities to redress the balance in its reporting of the relevant science, NN repeatedly declined, leaving both scientific and lay communities with an incomplete and distorted understanding of the science of caffeine and cognitive performance.
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