IF YOU ARE OVER 60, DRINK UP FOR YOUR MEMORY
Researchers from the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, University of Kentucky, and
University of Maryland found that for people 60 and older who do not have
dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher
episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events.
Moderate
alcohol consumption was also linked with a larger volume in the hippocampus, a
brain region critical for episodic memory. The relationship between light
alcohol consumption and episodic memory goes away if hippocampal volume is
factored in, providing new evidence that hippocampal functioning is the
critical factor in these improvements. These findings were detailed in the American
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias.
This
study used data from more than 660 patients in the Framingham Heart Study
Offspring Cohort. These patients completed surveys on their alcohol consumption
and demographics, a battery of neuropsychological assessments, the presence or
absence of the genetic Alzheimer's disease risk factor APOE e4 and MRIs of
their brains. The researchers found that light and moderate alcohol consumption
in older people is associated with higher episodic memory and is linked with
larger hippocampal brain volume. Amount of alcohol consumption had no impact on
executive function or overall mental ability.
Findings
from animal studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may contribute to
preserved hippocampal volume by promoting generation of new nerve cells in the
hippocampus. In addition, exposing the brain to moderate amounts of alcohol may
increase the release of brain chemicals involved with cognitive, or information
processing, functions.
"There
were no significant differences in cognitive functioning and regional brain
volumes during late life according to reported midlife alcohol consumption
status," said lead author Brian Downer, UTMB Sealy Center on Aging
postdoctoral fellow. "This may be due to the fact that adults who are able
to continue consuming alcohol into old age are healthier, and therefore have
higher cognition and larger regional brain volumes, than people who had to
decrease their alcohol consumption due to unfavorable health outcomes."
Although
the potential benefits of light to moderate alcohol consumption to cognitive
learning and memory later in life have been consistently reported, extended
periods of abusing alcohol, often defined as having five or more alcoholic
beverages during a single drinking occasion is known to be harmful to the
brain.
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