Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - A new study has found that alcohol consumption is tied directly to brain volume, meaning those who drink the most alcohol are more likely to have the smallest brains.
The study was carried out by researchers from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
The study, published in the Archives of Neurology, followed a total of 1,839 adults with an average age of 60.
From 1999 to 2001, they were asked a series of questions about their health, alcohol consumption, etc.
With this information, they found a direct link between brain size and alcohol consumption.
Researchers found that heavy drinkers were more likely to speed up the process of their brain shrinking.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
The interpretation of the study can be misleading. Studies that show that moderate alcohol consumption reduces brain-size exist for a long time.
However, the effect on brain-size does not impair intelligence. Quite on the contrary! Paradoxically the intelligence increases, on many cognitive measures. People who drink alcohol moderately are 2.5 times as likely to obtain the highest scores on cognitive tests as abstainers.
Apparently, only the gray matter shrinks, increasing the proportion of white matter relative to gray matter. This may explain the cognitive gain.