Oct 22, 2014 11:43 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Alcohol consumption may preserve memory in older adults, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, University of Kentucky, and University of Maryland found that for people 60 years and older who do not have dementia, light to moderate alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events. It 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.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed 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," Brian Downer, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "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.

These findings were detailed in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias.  

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