A few years back, I learned on a cold winter Tuesday that I’d landed an exciting career opportunity.
To this day, I recall what I bought for dinner to celebrate:
$100 worth of sushi,
a bottle of fancy red wine, and
a container of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy ice cream
I can remember so much about this in vivid detail—the NBA game that was on in the background while I ate my sushi, the friends who came over to share the wine, the last hunk of brownie in the ice cream that I saved until the end.
Now, it turns out that, according to a new study, I might have inadvertently given myself a cognitive superpower to remember that night so clearly.
The unexpected brain boost
Writing in the journal Food & Function, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan found that compounds called flavanols—found in red wine, chocolate, and certain other foods—can almost immediately activate a specific part of your brain responsible for alertness and memory formation.
The key words there are “almost immediately.” These are changes that happen within minutes to an hour after consumption.
For years, researchers have known that flavanols seem to improve cognitive function, but they couldn’t explain how. These compounds have terrible bioavailability, meaning they barely get absorbed into your bloodstream at all.
So how could they possibly affect your brain?
Straight to the locus coeruleus
The Japanese research team determined that instead of traveling through your bloodstream to your brain, flavanols appear to work through what scientists call “gut-brain signaling.”
When you consume something with a strong astringent taste—like red wine or dark chocolate—it creates a sensation in your mouth and digestive tract. That sensation sends signals directly to a tiny region in your brainstem called the locus coeruleus.
When the locus coeruleus fires up, it releases noradrenaline throughout your entire brain—to your hypothalamus, your memory centers, even down to your spinal cord.
That cascade of noradrenaline then enhances your ability to encode and consolidate memories, particularly during that critical first hour after an experience.
Of mice and memory
The study used mice, giving them a single dose of cocoa-derived flavanols then observing what happened.
Within minutes, the team saw activation of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system. The mice showed enhanced spontaneous activity and increased wakefulness indicators, like grooming and rearing up, and most intriguingly, improved performance on short-term memory tests.
The study also used advanced brain imaging techniques to track neurotransmitter movement in the mice’s brains. It found that noradrenaline intensity spiked dramatically in the locus coeruleus immediately after flavanol administration.
It then spread throughout the brain to regions involved in memory and attention.
Bottom line, the mice that received flavanols before a memory training task demonstrated significantly better novel object recognition—a standard test for short-term memory—compared to those that received just water.
Researchers also found that flavanols activated both the sympathetic nervous system, your “fight-or-flight” response, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, your stress hormone system.
So, these compounds create a mild stress response. However, apparently it’s the good kind of stress that enhances alertness and memory formation rather than the chronic stress that damages health.
My kind of study
I suspect many people have had the experience of a smell or taste instantly transporting them back to a specific moment in time.
The researchers suggest there might be a biological explanation. The astringent, sensory qualities of what you consume might actually be helping encode those memories in the first place.
Anyway, this all falls into the category of “pleasurable things I’d do anyway, even without knowing there’s a neuroscience or memory benefit.”
The foods richest in flavanols include cocoa (especially dark chocolate), red wine, certain berries, and some teas. Not exactly a hardship to incorporate those into important moments.
What’s more, I’ve written before about a different study showing that wasabi, which I had alongside my sushi during that celebratory Tuesday night dinner, also improves cognitive recall.
The researchers say this issue needs more study, particularly large-scale human trials.
I hereby volunteer. Here’s to having things to celebrate, and to remembering those good times with clarity years later.
7 other things
A federal judge threw out the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, finding they were illegitimate because they were brought by an unqualified U.S. attorney. The cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning the charges could theoretically be brought again. (Fox News)
Interesting argument: The poverty line should actually be around $140,000 for a U.S. family of four. Rationale: The original “poverty line” was set at 3x the cost of food for a family, but since then costs for everything else—housing, healthcare, childcare, commuting, and education—has skyrocketed. (MarketWatch)
The Pentagon says it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, after Kelly joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for U.S. troops to refuse unlawful orders. The Pentagon threatened Kelly could be “recall[ed] to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.” (AP)
A new feature on social media platform X revealed that some prominent political accounts, including purported MAGA fans with thousands of followers, are actually being run from places like Pakistan, Nigeria, Thailand, and Eastern Europe. The accounts seem like they could be motivated to drive engagement at all costs because of X’s revenue-sharing program for large content creators. (Axios)
A sheriff’s deputy and a locksmith have died after a shootout during an eviction in Vero Beach, Florida. The locksmith, David Long, 76, who was known for his “dedicated service and kind demeanor,” and the deputy, Terri Sweeting-Mashkow, who had served for 25 years, were reportedly killed by Michael Halberstam, who also died. (AP)
Why Did FDR Change the Date of Thanksgiving? The unpopular switch fueled competing days of observance across the United States. (History.com)
Fascinating new study that shows something that never even occurred to me and frankly makes everything else seem a bit trivial: Our entire Solar System is racing through space, and moving 3x faster than we previously thought. (Science Daily)
Thanks for reading. Photo by Kelly Visel on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you in the comments!
Not much surprising today. A lot of “really?” Moments, though. I have eaten so much chocolate in my lifetime that the effect is nullified, and I don’t drink, so my memories are well locked away. I have specific memories of events that matter, even a case of déjà vu from back in the early 80’s that knocked me back for a good long moment.
Not surprised the indictments got thrown out. Not surprised the Pentagon is going after Democrats. Not surprised about bot farms. Not surprised, just saddened about the shooting. Nothing we can do about the speed of the solar system, although that is interesting. And we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, when the weather is usually better.
Big reds and quality dark chocolate - 🎶 these are a few of my favorite things! 🎶
Cheers to Comey and James!
Respect to Senator Kelly (and his partners in “crime” /s). Weird how stating legal facts can be cause for an investigation. While unlikely, a military recall usually happens during a national emergency or when the American Armed Forces need specific skills that are hard to find elsewhere, like medical professionals. That makes Hegseth’s threat performative at best and likely illegal.
Is anyone surprised bot farms are running much of the twitter feed’s far right disinformation? Look at who owns the company. Interesting that musk didn’t test this feature internally before flipping the switch and getting a great embarrassment!