According To a Penn Study, Even One Drink Per Day can Cause Brain Shrinkage

Moderate alcohol consumption is commonly described as one drink per day for women and two drinks for males. But even such modest-sounding levels might well have harmful repercussions on the brain, a recent study conducted by University of Pennsylvania experts reveals. The results were based on MRI scans of almost 36,000 persons.

A drink is made up of 2 “units” of pure alcohol (20 millilitres). The average brain size of people who drink the equivalent with one daily glass of wine — or one could think of a higher-potency beer like India pale ale — was somewhat lower than that of non-drinkers.

The scientists calculated that one regular drink was comparable to two additional years of brain ageing for a typical 50-year-old based on MRI scans of over 36,000 middle-aged persons. And the link became stronger as the amount of alcohol taken increased: on average, those who drank two drinks each day seemed 10 years older than those who did not.

Because the scans were a snapshot in time, amongst many other drawbacks in the study, the researchers couldn’t claim for sure that moderate alcohol usage caused brain shrinkage.

Nonetheless, according to Reagan Wetherill, one of the study’s organisers, several of the writers have reduced their alcohol use as a result of the findings.

“We’re told that moderate or low levels of alcohol are safe,” she said. “But we saw that there was a basic global effect on brain volume even at one drink.”

Alcohol & The Brain

Penn researchers discovered that persons who consumed just 2 units of alcohol each day (20 millilitres) had a smaller brain capacity (two-thirds of an ounce). A 12-ounce can of normal India pale ale, for instance, comprises over two units of alcohol. Here are the equivalent ounces in four popular alcoholic beverages.

“The data are very clear that there is a reduction,” he said.

The significant effect of alcohol usage was observed in the current brain study irrespective of other known aspects that influence brain size, like smoking, age, and socioeconomic position.