20 menshealth.com.au
THERE ARE MANYthings a couple of
cold ones are known to improve- your confidence, your proficiency
at pool, your enjoyment of a meal
deal. But your powers of recall not so
much. Well, forget everything you
think you know about memory:
research from the University of Exeter
suggests a work-night drink can be a
very smart idea indeed.
In a new study, social drinkers were
subjected to a memorisation task,
after which half of them were given a
free pass at the pub, averaging a glass
and a half of booze each. When
retested the following morning,
the drinking group performed
notably better.
The reasoning is deceptively
simple: alcohol interacts with the
brain’s hippocampus, inhibiting your
ability to learn new information. This
frees up space to consolidate your
pre-pub memories, moving them
from ‘short-term’ storage to ‘long-
term’. In other words, you might not
recall exactly who paid for the last
round, but the meeting notes you
were reading over at 4pm will
remain unblurred.
So don’t feel guilty about
unwinding with a beer or a glass of
red (we’re partial to McWilliam’s McW
Reserve 660 Hilltops Cabernet
Sauvignon,$23.99)at close of
business. It could prove just the
mental tonic you need before a
big day in the office. Just don’t try
claiming that on expenses.
RELEASE THE
GENIUS IN
THE BOTTLE.12
HOURS TO BOLSTER
YOUR MEMORY WITH
A POST-WORK DRINK