@article{McDonough_2019, title={The effect of caffeine concentrations on the learning and memory retention of gold fish.}, volume={91}, url={https://pwvas.org/index.php/pwvas/article/view/497}, DOI={10.55632/pwvas.v91i1.497}, abstractNote={<span id="E85" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">The objec</span><span id="E86" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">tive of this study was to test and</span><span id="E87" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> observe how different concentrations caffeine effect the memory & learning abilities of a goldfish.</span><span id="E89" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">Caffeine </span><span id="E90" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">amounts (Group 1- 0g</span><span id="E91" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">, Grou</span><span id="E92" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">p 2- 0.05 g., Group 3- 0.12 g, and</span><span id="E93" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> Group 4- 0.20 g.) were only administered duri</span><span id="E94" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">ng testing sessions in 7.5 L</span><span id="E95" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> tanks. Caffeine groups were held for 3 minutes to ensure absorption. Plastic mesh canvas maze was used to observe </span><span id="E96" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">and</span><span id="E97" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> test the learning and memory skills of the fish. All groups were given 6 minutes to complete the maze. The maze w</span><span id="E98" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">as </span><span id="E99" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">a reward based system, with food at the end. The memory of goldfish </span><span id="E100" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">was</span><span id="E101" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> measured by the time/rate at which these fish go through the maze, al</span><span id="E102" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">ong with observational data. </span><span id="E103" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">All groups showed an overall decline trend in times, indicating learning and memory retention </span><span id="E104" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">occurring</span><span id="E105" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">. </span><span id="E106" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">The</span><span id="E107" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> results prove that groups exposed to caffeine learned sooner than the control group. Group 3 had </span><span id="E108" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">the </span><span id="E109" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">faste</span><span id="E110" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">st average</span><span id="E111" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> time</span><span id="E112" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman"> to complete the maze</span><span id="E113" class="qowt-font2-TimesNewRoman">, and consistently had more fish that went through the hole in compared to other groups. Looking at a previously done study, caffeine concentrations in group 3 are highly effective in promoting memory retention & learning. Due to deaths in that occurred throughout and a small sample size, this study should be replicated with a larger sample size. </span>}, number={1}, journal={Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science}, author={McDonough, Hailey Anne}, year={2019}, month={Mar.} }