It’s Official, Drinking Wine Makes You Smarter

Bad news for beer drinkers, drinking wine makes you smarter according to a Yale neuroscientist.

Gordon Shepard says drinking wine activates more grey matter (the areas of learning and memory) in the brain then when listening to music or solving math equations. In his book, Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine, Shepard explores the connection between the brain and the ability to interpret wine flavors. He said to NPR, “You don’t just put wine in your mouth and leave it there…you move it about and then swallow it, which is a very complex motor act.”

He explains that the process is similar to how the eye perceives color. The objects we see don’t have color themselves – light hits them and bounces off…it’s when light strikes our eyes that it activates systems in the brain that create color from those different wavelengths.”

He continues, “Similarly, the molecules in wine don’t have taste or flavor, but when they stimulate our brain, the brain creates flavor the same way it creates color.”

Your brain interprets wine flavors causing a reaction in the brain that increases activity. Your brain is engaged in mindfulness activity which promotes stress reduction and stronger learning ability.