Elias talks with BDN about study that shows chocolate improves brain function
The Bangor Daily News spoke with Merrill “Pete” Elias, a University of Maine professor of psychology and cooperating professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, about a recent study that found chocolate intake is associated with better cognitive function. Elias was part of a team that included researchers from the University of South Australia and Luxembourg Institute of Health. According to their findings published last month in the journal Appetite, people who ate chocolate at least once per week performed better on multiple cognitive tasks compared to those who ate chocolate less frequently. The study tracked more than 1,000 people over 35 years and looked specifically at chocolate consumption’s effect on visual-spatial memory and organization, working memory, abstract verbal reasoning, scanning and tracking and overall cognitive functioning, according to the article. “People like it because we are not telling them they can’t do something,” Elias said. “This has been a grandly fun study.” WGME (Channel 13 in Portland) carried the BDN report. Science World Report published an article on a related study conducted by the researchers that found consuming chocolate every day can prevent diabetes and insulin resistance, and can lower the risk of acquiring cardiovascular diseases.