Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti and his team gave mice cabernet sauvignon or ethanol in their drinking water daily for seven months. Another group of mice drank plain water. All of the animals had a genetic defect that caused them to develop amyloidal plaques in their brains, the type of damage that occurs in humans with Alzheimer's disease.
After seven months, the mice were abstained from alcohol for three days. Then, researchers tested the improvement in animal's memory by putting them through a series of maze tests. They found that wine-drinking mice learned how to escape from the maze significantly faster than those drinking alcohol-spiked water or water only.
Pasinetti said that based on the findings, and given that moderate wine consumption may protect the heart, older people who don't have the metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, liver problems, issues with alcohol dependence or other reasons to avoid alcohol can choose to drink red wine moderately as part of a healthy lifestyle.
"Moderate consumption is the key factor," Pasinetti told Reuters Health in an interview.
The findings of the study are published in November issue of The FASEB Journal.
