Official: Drinking Improves Thinking

   It is guaranteed to raise a cheer among those who enjoy a tipple: moderate drinkers are better thinkers than teetotallers or those who overindulge.

    Research by the Australian National University in Canberra suggests drinking in moderation boost your brainpower. But none at all, or too much, can make you a dullard.

    A study of 7,000 people in their early 20s, 40s and 60s found that those who drank within safe limits had better verbal skills, memory and speed of thinking than those at the extremes of the drinking spectrum. The safe consumption level was considered to be 14 to 28 standard drinks a week for a man and seven to 14 for a woman.

    Questions ranged from verbal reasoning problems to tests of short-term memory. Surprisingly, perhaps, teetotallers were twice as likely as occasional drinkers to achieve the lowest scores.

    Bryan Rodgers, from ANU's Centre for Mental Health Research, said moderate drinkers not only performed the best, but also seemed to be the healthiest. "This does not necessarily show moderate alcohol use is good for our brains - there may be other reasons we haven't measured to explain the poor performance of non-drinkers," Dr Rodgers said.

    The results may reflect the fact that alcohol can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and increase blood flow to the brain - factors linked to improved mental function. They also support research that suggests moderate alcohol intake can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by improving circulation.

    The Australian study is part of a 20-year project started in 1999 to examine the changes in thinking and mood as people age.

澳大利亚学者的一项最新研究显示，对于那些常年适量饮酒的人来说，其大脑思维能力要强于完全禁酒者或嗜酒如命者。

    据英国《卫报》8月4日报道，堪培拉市澳大利亚国立大学（ANU）的学者对饮酒问题进行了一项研究。7000名年龄分别为20岁、40岁和60岁的成年人参与了此项研究。研究人员对他们进行了包括口头推理问题、短期记忆测验等多项测试。结果发现，与那些在饮酒问题上走向两个极端的人相比，日常饮酒量处在安全范围内的人一般具有更好的语言能力、记忆力以及更快的思维速度。男性每日的安全饮酒量为14到28个标准杯（英国一标准杯酒精饮料里约含乙醇8至9克）；对于女性来说，这一数字为7到14个标准杯。

    研究显示，适度的酒精不仅可以减少人们患上心血管病风险，而且还会加大通往大脑的血液流量。此外，适量摄入酒精可以改善一个人的血液循环状况，并进而降低其患上心脏病或突发中风的危险。ANU的研究人员建议大家平时应当适量饮酒，此举可以使你变得脑力充沛。但如果总是滴酒不沾或纵情狂饮的话，你最终会成为一个思维迟钝的人。澳大利亚国立大学布赖恩·罗杰斯教授表示，那些适度饮酒者不仅在各种思维测验中得到了高分，而且他们的健康状况看上去也是最好的。