Drinking to forget could be harder than you think, scientists discover

DRINKING alcohol can actually improve memory, academics have found, as a study showed that those who drink after studying are better at recalling what they learnt.

In the study, a group of social drinkers were given a word-learning task. They were then split in two groups at random and told either to drink as much as they liked – the average was four units – or not to drink at all.

The next day, they all did the same task again – and those who had drunk alcohol remembered more of what they had learnt.

Researchers at the University of Exeter stressed this limited positive effect should be considered alongside the well-established negative effects of excessive alcohol on memory and mental and physical health.

The effect has been shown under laboratory conditions before, but this is the first study to test it in a natural setting with people drinking in their homes.

The study’s participants were 31 men and 57 women, aged 18 to 53. The paper is published in the journal Scientific Reports.