Does alcohol make you cleverer?
Drinkers have long believed that alcohol kills brain cells, but new research from Sweden suggests that the opposite could be true: alcohol stimulates the growth of nerve cells in the brain.
Mice fed "moderate" quantities of alcohol (research by this reporter failed to find out what the recommended maximum intake is for rodents) by the Karolinska Institute grew extra brain cells.
Given the choice, they also preferred alcohol to water – as you well might if you were stuck in a cage all day.
The researchers, who published their work in that well-known tome the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology (try saying that after a few pints), weren't quite sure what effect the new brain cells would have, although they did all grow normally.
On the one hand, lead researcher Professor Stefan Brene told the BBC, they might help with learning and memory, but on the other they probably help with "the development of alcohol addiction and other long-term effects of alcohol on the brain."
A spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale suggested that alcohol must be the reason why pub quiz teams are so bright. In this reporter's local, at least, there is little evidence of that.
Alcohol Concern was meanwhile quick to pour cold water on the findings, adding: "Much more research is needed to explore the relationship between drinking patterns and their effect on the human brain." We couldn't agree more.
Send this article to a friend