While many enjoy the occasional drink or two, a new study from University College London suggests that heavy drinking may worsen and even impair memory and cognitive functioning for men, particularly middle-aged men, the Guardian reports.

The 10-year study, recently published in the journal Neurology, found a "significant deterioration" in memory for middle-aged men who drank more than 36 grams of alcohol per day.

While the long-term effects of alcohol on the brain have not been extensively researched, the latest study suggests that men who drink more than two pints of alcohol per day are likely to start experiencing detrimental effects to their memories and congition much earlier than those who drink far less.

Researchers at University College London studied a group of middle-aged men and women (including more than 5,000 men and 2,000 women between the ages of 45 and 69) and tracked their drinking habits and performances on a number of cognitive functioning tests during a 10-year study. The researchersassesed the participant's drinking habits three times over the course of the decade and subsequently administered cognitive functioning tests three times.

While light and moderate drinkers showed no decline in memory and executive functioning, men who drank more than 36g a day (about four and a half units of alcohol) suffered failure in memory and impaired cognitive processes between 18 months and six years earlier than their peers.

"These latest results could serve as one more reason to stick to any new year's resolutions to cut back on alcohol. Observational studies such as this can be important for identifying factors that may influence the risk of memory decline or disease, but it's difficult to pinpoint cause and effect with this type of research," Simon Ridley, head of research at the dementia research charity Alzheimer's Research UK, told the Gurdian.

"The people in this study did not have dementia but memory decline can be a precursor to dementia and understanding the risk factors for this decline could be important for preventing the condition," he continued. "In the meantime, the best evidence suggests that in addition to not drinking to excess we can lower the risk of dementia by eating a healthy, balanced diet, keeping an eye on our blood pressure and weight, and taking regular exercise."