Red Wine Can Help You Remember

Much, perhaps too much, has been written about the heart health benefits of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in the skin of red grapes, and yes, in red wine, peanuts and some berries. Now comes another apparent benefit of resveratrol; it appears to have positive effects on the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is critical to functions such as memory, learning and mood. A news release from Texas A&M’s Health Science Center reports that researchers at the school have found that treatment with resveratrol had apparent benefits in terms of learning, memory and mood function in aged rats. The researchers found that rats who did not receive resveratrol were able to maintain spatial learning, but their ability to make new spatial memories significantly declined between 22 and 25 months. By contrast, both spatial learning and memory improved in the resveratrol-treated rats. They also found that neurogenesis (the growth and development of neurons) approximately doubled in the rats given resveratrol compared to the control rats. The resveratrol-treated rats also had significantly improved microvasculature, indicating improved blood flow, and had a lower level of chronic inflammation in the hippocampus.