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 October 2014 issue of 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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