Hitting the bottle to help drown out memories you’d rather forget may in fact etch① them more deeply into your consciousness.
And having one or two glasses of wine a day may increase your ability to remember， and even help with Alzheimer sufferers②.
The study was undertaken by several professors together. They found moderate③ levels of alcohol consumption， equivalent to one or two glasses of wine a day， could enhance memory.
In contrast， high levels of alcohol decreased the ability of new brain cells to develop and mature④.
“Low levels of alcohol promoted neutral⑤ memories， such as remembering objects，” said one of the professors.
“However， contrary to popular belief， excessive levels of alcohol enhanced memories of highly emotional stimuli， meaning the concept of `drinking to forget’ is unlikely to be true.
“Heavy drinking actually reinforces⑥ negative memories.”
The study also identified the way low doses of alcohol improved memory.
A “very important”brain receptor⑦， called an NMDA receptor， appeared to be necessary for the process. Testing done on rats showed if they did not have enough NMDA receptors， their memory did not improve when given low alcohol doses.
However， rats which did show high numbers of NMDA receptors exhibited memory improvement when given small amounts of alcohol.
“Pathways by which memory is laid down are unclear， but NMDA receptor is critical in this process，” the professor said.
“Building on this knowledge may help in the treatment of memory disorders， such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias⑧.”
① etchv.深印；鲜明地描述
② sufferern. 受害者，受难者
③ moderateadj. 中等的，适度的
④ maturev. 使成熟；使长成
⑤ neutraladj. 中立的
⑥ reinforcev. 增援，加强
⑦ receptorn. 感觉器官；感受体
⑧ dementian. 痴呆
借酒消愁愁更愁
借酒消愁可能会“愁更愁”。
每天喝一两杯酒能够增强记忆，甚至有助于缓解阿滋海默氏症（老年痴呆症）。
多名教授共同研究了这一现象，他们发现，适度饮酒——即每天喝一两杯酒，能够增强记忆力。
而过度饮酒则会抑制新生脑细胞的发育及生长。
其中一个博士说：“少量饮酒能够促进‘中性记忆’，比如对物体的记忆。”
“然而，与普遍观点相反，过度饮酒能够强化人对高强度情感刺激的记忆，也就是说‘借酒消愁’并不能奏效。”
“酗酒实际上能强化人的负面记忆。”
同时，少量饮酒能够改善人的记忆。
大脑中的“门冬氨酸受体”在这一过程中起了“十分重要”的作用。白鼠的大脑中如果没有足够的门冬氨酸受体，即使摄入少量酒精，记忆也不会得到改善。
然而，大脑中有大量门冬氨酸受体的白鼠在摄入少量酒精后，记忆力则会增强。
那位博士说：“目前有关记忆储存的‘路径’尚不清楚，但门冬氨酸受体在这一过程中起了关键性作用。”
“这一发现有助于治疗阿滋海默氏症及其它痴呆症等记忆障碍。”