Fancy getting paid to drink that glass of red wine with your dinner? Sign up to a new study at Northumbria University and it could actually happen.
Researchers at the university are looking for participants aged between 18 and 35 or 50 and 70 to take part in two similar studies into the health benefits of red wine. Volunteers will not only be treated to a good quality red: they’ll also be paid £30 for the privilege, which is plenty enough to invest in another bottle. Cheers to that…
The Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre at Northumbria University are investigating the effect that one specific ingredient, resveratrol, has upon the brain. If you’re a skincare buff, it’s likely you’re already au fait with this antioxidant-rich grape extract, which is found in a number of supercharged anti-ageing products.
PhD student Timothy Eschle is leading the study, and explained to ITV News, ‘there are a number of benefits to consuming red grapes. A specific extract from the skin of red grapes, resveratrol, has been found to increase blood flow to the brain and in some cases, increase mental performance on cognitive tasks.’
‘Most studies have been carried out in young adults at the peak of their cognitive abilities, thus the benefits of resveratrol are expected to be more prominent in older adults who may suffer a slight natural decline in certain aspects of mental function such as memory and reaction time,’ he added.
Eschle also hopes that the study will ‘establish whether resveratrol can affect mental function at altitude, which often impacts on people’s performance.’ To do so, researchers will assess how well participants can perform mentally taxing tasks at a range of different temperatures and altitudes, using an environmental chamber.
If the study sounds like your, ahem, glass of wine, you can find out more information by visiting www.nutrition-neuroscience.co.uk.