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Intake of alcohol itself has preventive effect by coping stress or lowering blood pressure. In Xu et al.’s dose-response meta-analysis, a nonlinear association between alcohol consumption and the risk of dementia, with moderate alcohol consumption (≤12.5 g/day) reducing risk (lowest risk with roughly 6 g/day) and excessive drinking (≥38 g/day) elevating risk, was further revealed. Neafsey and Collins reviewed 143 published papers and concluded that light to moderate alcoholic beverage consumption (≤2 drinks/day for men, ≤1 drink/day for women) may reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive impairments. Several epidemiological studies have suggested that the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer may lower the risk of dementia. Daily supplementation with hop-derived bitter acids (e.g., 35 mg/day of MHBAs) may be a safe and effective strategy to stimulate the vagus nerve and thus enhance cognitive function. Moreover, supplementation with IAAs attenuates neuroinflammation and cognitive impairments in various rodent models of neurodegeneration including Alzheimer’s disease.
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Furthermore, the effects of both IAAs and MHBAs are attenuated by vagotomy, suggesting that these bitter acids enhance cognitive function via vagus nerve stimulation. Matured hop bitter acids (MHBAs), oxidized components with β-carbonyl moieties derived from aged hops, also enhance memory functions via norepinephrine neurotransmission-mediated mechanisms. Iso-α-acids (IAAs), the main bitter components of beer, enhance hippocampus-dependent memory and prefrontal cortex-associated cognitive function via dopamine neurotransmission activation. In the present review, we discuss the latest reports on the effects and underlying mechanisms of hop-derived bitter acids found in beer. However, the effects of specific beer constituents on cognitive function have not been investigated in as much detail. For instance, resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound found in red wine, has been well studied and reported to prevent dementia and cognitive decline.
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Moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages reduces the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. We thank David Bergstone and Mary Margaret Ragan who together carefully and skillfully organized and carried out the typing of the manuscript.Dementia and cognitive decline are global public health problems. A generous gift from The UPS Foundation to the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center made possible the compilation, editing and preparation of this manuscript and helped to support Symposium ac ti vi ties. Appreciation is also extended to the Andrew Norman Institute for Advanced Study in Gerontology and Geriatrics for support of planning activities leading up to the Symposium and for support of events surrounding the Symposium itself. Professor Lambros Houssiadas also provided invaluable encouragement. Birren, Judy Livingston, Erhard Olbrich, Victor Regnier, Pauline Robinson, Thomas Singleton, Arnold Small, Harvey Sterns, and Alvar Svanborg. Members of the Symposium Advisory Board were James E. The Symposium was made possible by a grant from the NATO Special Programme Panel on Human Factors, and the support of this program is gratefully acknowledged. The chapters and reports in this publication have been selected from presentations at a Symposium on "Aging and Technological Advances" held in August, 1983 at the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center of the University of Southern California.