Drinking alcohol at a certain level may boost your memory up: Study

This is a piece of news which is going to cheer you for sure. A latest study led by a group of researchers from University of Exeter, United Kingdom has found that drinking alcohol actually helps in improving the memory and retaining the information learned before drinking.

The study, published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports on July 24, 2017, was conducted on 88 social drinkers consisting of 57 females and 31 males. The participants, took part in the process were of 18 to 53 years. They were randomly divided into two groups after the completion of a word learning task. The participants were given two options-either to drink as much alcohol they wish to or avoid consuming it altogether. Those who consumed alcohol were provided with an average of four units. The learning task was repeated the very next day and it was determined that the participants who consumed alcohol were able to recall more of the information which they had learned before drinking.

The researchers who conducted the study want to lay emphasis on the finite positive impact of alcohol. They want to consider this aspect along with the negative impact of excessive consumption of the memory, physical and mental health of a person.

Also Read: Having beer instead of cow milk may help you posses good health

According to Celia Morgan, Professor at the University of Exeter, the research has further proved that the impact was stronger on the participants who drank more and did better in the learning task.

Morgon remarked that the causes of the effect have not been fully understood yet. She explained by giving a theory that alcohol blocks the brain from gaining any new information and thus there are more resources on the existing information and it becomes a long term memory. As per the theory, hippocampus, the most important part of the brain-switches to consolidating the memories, transferring the information from short to long term memory.

The effect has been tested under laboratory conditions before. This is the first time the test has been conducted in a natural setting, where all the participants drank at their own place.

A second task was also conducted where the participants had to recall images given on the screen. This task followed the same procedure as the first one. The results of the test didn't show a major difference in the memory performance after consumption of alcohol.

Also Read: Sex once a week ensures longevity in women: Study

Earlier studies led by Nutritional epidemiologist Karin Michels from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, USA has also declared a series of advantages of drinking alcohol and said beer once a day may help people posses a much better health and it also cleans out your coronary arteries.