Cognitive function was assessed longitudinally at phases 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 and at the time of scanning with lexical (how many words beginning with a specific letter can be generated in one minute) and semantic (how many words in a specific category can be named in one minute) fluency tests. Alcohol is a direct cause of seven ​​forms of cancer, finds study Read more 
 
 Writing in the British Medical Journal, researchers from the University of Oxford and University College London, describe how they followed the alcohol intake and cognitive performance of 550 men and women over 30 years from 1985. While 35% of those who didn’t drink were found to have shrinkage on the right side of the hippocampus, the figure was 65% for those who drank on average between 14 and 21 units a week, and 77% for those who drank 30 or more units a week.
– A variety of studies have linked heavy drinking to brain damage and dementia, but a new one suggests moderate drinking might also hurt the brain and perhaps lead to memory loss. Contrary to studies suggesting drinking in moderation might actually be good for you, the latest in the British Medical Journal determined that middle-aged moderate drinkers who consumed between eight to 12 shots, bottles of beer, or small glasses of wine per week were more likely than light or non-drinkers to suffer a decline in language ability over a 30-year period, reports USA Today. Perhaps most concerning, moderate drinkers were also three times more likely than non-drinkers to experience a shrinking of the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory. In the study of 527 Brits, mostly middle-class men, researchers found that 35% of non-drinkers had experienced hippocampal atrophy after 30 years, compared to 65% of moderate drinkers and 77% of participants who drank the most, reports the Guardian. As hippocampal atrophy may be linked to dementia, moderate drinking, then, could be tied to future memory loss, reports CNN. Researchers, who expected light to moderate drinkers to be protected from cognitive decline, were "surprised," co-author Anya Topiwala explains. "These are people who are drinking at levels that many consider social drinkers, so they are not consuming a lot." While researchers took age, sex, social activity, and education into account, experts caution that other factors, like diet, may play a role. (Moderate drinking might also increase your breast cancer risk.)