Abstract
Caffeine is the most wildly consumed psycho-stimulant substances known to man. Caffeine has important effects on alertness. While moderate caffeine use is ‘‘generally recognized as safe’’ but heavy caffeine consumption has been associated with serious adverse health effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of moderate (0.1 gm/L) and high (1 gm/L) doses of caffeine administered mixed with drinking water on the learning and memory and motor coordination in mice. BLC57 mice were divided into 3 groups: control group (n=8 males, no caffeine), moderate dose group (n=8 males) and high dose group (n=8, males) were tested for spatial memory by the Morris-water maze, and motor coordination by rotarod after caffeine administration for 7 days. Water maze performance by measuring the latency to reach the platform was significantly better in the group of mice receiving moderate dose of caffeine (30.4 ± 7.3 s) compared to the control group latency (63.6 ± 9.4 s, ANOVA test, p˂ 0.05) and the high dose group latency (76.9 ± 8.5 s, ANOVA test, p˂ 0.05). Statistical analysis showed also a significant difference between the control group and the high dose group. Rota rod results showed that the mice of the moderate dose group could stay more time on the rotating rod before they fall (40.5 ± 4.3 s, ANOVA test, p˂ 0.05) than the control group (29.9 ± 2.8 s) and the high dose group (25.2 ± 2.6 s). We concluded that acute administration of moderate dose of caffeine to mice can enhance their spatial memory and motor coordination. However, high dose would have opposite effect and affects negatively in their performance for spatial memory and motor coordination.