A new study, published in Neurology, reports that middle-aged men who drink 36 grams or more of alcohol a day, or a little more than two and a half United States standard drinks, are more likely to experience faster decline in all cognitive areas, including memory, during a period of 10 years, translating into 5.7 years of extra cognitive aging. The study, however, found no differences in memory and executive function in men who do not drink, former drinkers and light or moderate drinkers. Executive function is responsible for attention and reasoning skills in accomplishing a goal. 

The link for women in the study remains less clear, although women who drink 19 or more grams per day of alcohol may experience a faster decline in executive function. Fascinatingly, women who refrain from drinking also have faster declines in certain cognitive areas. 

"Much of the research evidence about drinking and a relationship to memory and executive function is based on older populations," said study author Séverine Sabia, PhD, of the University College London in the United Kingdom. "Our study focused on middle-aged participants and suggests that heavy drinking is associated with faster decline in all areas of cognitive function in men."

5,054 men and 2,099 women from the Whitehall II cohort study with the average age of 56 had their drinking habits assessed three times over a 10 year period.  The cognitive test sequence included 4 tests assessing memory and executive function.

"We found that the decline in memory was accelerated by almost 6 years in heavy male drinkers," commented Dr. Sabia. "This means, for example, that a man aged 55 years drinking more than 36 grams of alcohol per day would have a decline in memory comparable to a man aged 61 years."

Additional Resource:

http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2014/01/15/WNL.0000000000000063.full.pdf+html