Moderate drinking can improve memory

      Hitting the bottle to help drown out memories you'd rather forget may in fact etch them more deeply into your consciousness, a new study has found.

      And having one or two glasses of wine a day may increase your ability to remember, and even help with Alzheimer sufferers.

      The study at Auckland University was undertaken by Dr Maggie Kalev and Professor Matthew During.

      The two researchers found moderate levels of alcohol consumption, equivalent to one or two glasses of wine a day, could enhance memory.

      In contrast, high levels of alcohol decreased the ability of new brain cells to develop and mature.

      "Low levels of alcohol promoted neutral memories, such as remembering objects," said Dr Kalev.

      "However, contrary to popular belief, we also found that excessive levels of alcohol enhanced memories of highly emotional stimuli, meaning the concept of `drinking to forget' is unlikely to be true.

      "Our work suggests that heavy drinking actually reinforces negative memories."

      The study also identified the way low doses of alcohol improved memory.

      Dr Kalev said a "very important" brain receptor, called an NMDA receptor, appeared to be necessary for the process.

      Testing done on rats showed if they did not have enough NMDA receptors, their memory did not improve when given low alcohol doses.

      However, rats which did show high numbers of NMDA receptors exhibited memory improvement when given small amounts of alcohol.

      "Pathways by which memory is laid down are unclear, but NMDA receptor is critical in this process," Dr Kalev said.

      "Building on this knowledge may help in the treatment of memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and other dementias."

      The results of the study are published in Journal of Neuroscience.

      一项最新研究发现，借酒消愁可能会“愁更愁”。

      每天喝一两杯酒能够增强记忆，甚至有助于缓解阿滋海默氏症（老年痴呆症）。

      该研究是由奥克兰大学的麦吉•卡莱弗博士和马修•杜林教授共同开展的。

      他们发现，适度饮酒——即每天喝一两杯酒，能够增强记忆力。

      而过度饮酒则会抑制新生脑细胞的发育及生长。

      卡莱弗博士说：“少量饮酒能够促进‘中性记忆’，比如对物体的记忆。”

      “然而，我们还发现，与普遍观点相反，过度饮酒能够强化人对高强度情感刺激的记忆，也就是说‘借酒消愁’并不能奏效。”

      “我们的研究表明酗酒实际上能强化人的负面记忆。”

      同时，少量饮酒能够改善人的记忆。

      卡莱弗博士说大脑中的“门冬氨酸受体”在这一过程中起了“十分重要”的作用。

      白鼠试验表明，如果它们大脑中没有足够的门冬氨酸受体，即使摄入少量酒精，记忆也不会得到改善。

      然而，大脑中有大量门冬氨酸受体的白鼠在摄入少量酒精后，记忆力则会增强。

      卡莱弗博士说：“目前有关记忆储存的‘路径’尚不清楚，但门冬氨酸受体在这一过程中起了关键性作用。”

      “这一发现有助于治疗阿滋海默氏症及其它痴呆症等记忆障碍。”

      该研究成果在《神经系统科学》上发表。

      Vocabulary:

      hit the bottle :酗酒