So, alcohol improves short-term memory, according to researchers

If you've ever blamed your failing memory on your G&T habit, you may be talking absolute nonsense if recent research is anything to go by.

According to a study conducted in the University of Exeter, alcohol consumption can actually help to improve your short-term memory.

Don't worry; we'll wait while you pick yourself off the floor.

OK, ready?

So, researchers used 88 participants, 57 of whom were female, to investigate the hypothesis, and ultimately discovered that individuals who consumed alcohol prior to memory tasks performed better than those who didn't.

The group, who were aged between 18 and 53, were required to learn information from the comfort of their own homes before one half of the group went for a night of drinking.

The following day both groups convened, and researchers quickly established that those who had consumed an average of four alcohol units the night before were more capable of regurgitating the information they had learned the day before than their teetotal counterparts.

"Our research not only showed that those who drank alcohol did better when repeating the word-learning task, but that this effect was stronger among those who drank more," said Professor Celia Morgan of the University of Exeter.

“The causes of this effect are not fully understood, but the leading explanation is that alcohol blocks the learning of new information and therefore the brain has more resources available to lay down other recently learned information into long-term memory."

“The theory is that the hippocampus – the brain area really important in memory – switches to ‘consolidating’ memories, transferring from short into longer-term memory."

Researchers who conducted the study, which has been published in Scientific Reports, are "keen to stress that this limited positive effect should be considered alongside the well-established negative effects of excessive alcohol on memory and mental and physical health."

Fair enough.