A STUDY published in Tokyo's Shimbun newspaper, written by Japan's national ageing research agency has concluded that the occasional glass of wine may give senior citizens a boost in brain power.

People aged more than 40 who drink moderate amounts of grape wine, or Japanese sake rice wine, had a better performance in IQ tests than either heavy drinkers or teetotallers.

The paper quoted researchers as saying: "Alcohol protects certain brain functions against the ageing process which means it has some influence on intelligence as well.