Scientists looked at the curry consumption of 1,010 Asian people aged between 60 and 93 who were currently unaffected by Alzheimer's.
Their thinking ability was compared using a standard test called the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).
Participants who ate curry once or more in six months, or more than once a month, had better results than those who "never or rarely" ate it.
Dr. Tze-Pin Ng, from the National University of Singapore who led the study, told New Scientist magazine, "What is remarkable is that apparently one needs only to consume curry once in a while for the better cognitive performance to be evidenced."
He suspects that curcumin, a constituent of the spice turmeric, is responsible for the effects.
Next: Turmeric's antioxidant properties >
