>From vinepair.
https://vinepair.com/booze-news/sommelier-brain/?fbclid=IwAR0jdxZXxMpcH9vLM…
Lots Of Wine Makes Your Brain Alzheimer’s Resistant
*words:* VINEPAIR STAFF <https://vinepair.com/author/vinepair-staff/>
*updated:* SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2016
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<?subject=Smelling%20Lots%20Of%20Wine%20Makes%20Your%20Brain%20Alzheimer%E2%80%99s%20Resistant&body=Hey,%20I%20saw%20this%20on%20VinePair%20and%20thought%20of%20you:%20Smelling%20Lots%20Of%20Wine%20Makes%20Your%20Brain%20Alzheimer%E2%80%99s%20Resistant:%20https://vinepair.com/booze-news/sommelier-brain/%0D%0A%0D%0AEnjoy!>
Go ahead and take a deep whiff of the next glass of wine you see (and the
next one, and the next one). Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Las
Vegas found in a preliminary study that master sommeliers — people who
arguably rely on their sense of smell more than anyone else — are less
likely to get Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s than people who don’t soak in
delicious smells for a living.
The study, which was published in the journal *Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience*
<http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00414/full>,
compared brain scans of 13 sommeliers and 13 people with much less
interesting jobs. The researchers noticed key differences in certain areas
of the sommeliers’ brains.
For one, as to be expected, sections of the sommeliers’ brains that deal
with the olfactory (smell) network were thicker. Additionally, parts of the
brain that deal with memory were thicker. Which makes sense if you think
about it, since sommeliers are expected to remember not only how a wine
tastes, but the region, history and year of that wine as well.
“Overall, these differences suggest that specialized expertise and training
might result in enhancements in the brain well into adulthood,” the study
states. “This is particularly important given the regions involved, which
are the first to be impacted by many neurodegenerative diseases.”
It’s that last sentence that’s the kicker. Those strengthened sections of
sommeliers’ brains are the sections that are most sensitive to losing
memory function later in life. By that logic: Smell lots of wine, build
resistance to memory loss. Then once you’ve smelled it, drink it,
because studies
show
<https://vinepair.com/booze-news/new-study-shows-drinking-a-glass-of-wine-a-…>
*that* helps prevent Alzheimer’s too.
It’s all very exciting, but the Cleveland Clinic study is far
from conclusive.
“Though we don’t know for sure, there is a possibility that when it comes
to the brain, thicker is better,” Sarah Banks, one of the authors in the
story, told the New York Post
<http://nypost.com/2016/09/07/yet-another-reason-wine-is-good-for-you/>.
“It seems like if you have more brain in those areas, it’ll take longer to
feel the effects of the disease, but it’s speculation.”
Speculation from a noted expert, however. There’s no word on how to be
involved in future scientific wine smelling and tasting studies to retest
the results.
Regardless, all of those smells deserve some extra recognition. It took enzymes
working overtime
<https://vinepair.com/booze-news/what-makes-old-wine-smell/> to make that
wine smell so good in the first place, after all.
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
