Women who have one or two drinks daily may have improved cognitive function, according to researchers at Columbia University.

Medical News Today reported April 11 that study lead author Clinton Wright, M.D., of Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons said that "women who had up to two drinks a day scored about 20 percent higher on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) than women who didn't drink at all or who consumed less than one drink a week."

Researchers cautioned, however, that the MMSE is not a very sensitive test of cognition and that follow-up tests would be necessary to confirm the results.

The study included more than 3,000 people with no history of stroke; average participant age was 69, and 54 percent were Hispanic, 25 percent were black, and 21 percent were white.

The research appears in the online edition of the journal Stroke.