A glass of Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc could give your brain an all-over workout.

Drinking wine engages more of the brain than 'any other human behaviour', according to one leading neuroscientist.

Professor Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said drinking wine sparks a reaction in both the sensory and emotional parts of the brain.

Scroll down for video

Drinking wine engages more of the brain than 'any other human behaviour', according to one leading neuroscientist (stock photo)

HOW DO WE TASTE WINE? He said the movement of wine through the mouth and alcohol-infused air through the nose causes the brain to conjure up a flavour. The most important part of this 'brain activation' comes when we breath out wine-infused air after taking in a sniff. Professor Shepherd believes flavour is constructed in the brain in the similar way to colour, but is also impacted by the drinker's emotional connection to the wine in their glass. The brain builds a picture of colours in the mind using information from the eyes about how light hits objects around us. He said how we perceive wine is 'heavily dependent on our memories and emotions and those of our companions'. Other factors such as our gender, age and even the genetic make-up of our saliva can impact how wine tastes, he said. Advertisement

He added that spitting wine out while tasting prevents you from fully appreciating its complex flavour.

Instead, drinkers should swallow every drop, he said in his book Neuroenology: How The Brain Creates The Taste of Wine.

Drinking wine is vital 'for obtaining the most information possible about the quality of the wine,' he writes.

He coined the term 'neurogastronomy' to describe the study of how the brain creates the perception of flavour.

Professor Shepherd claims that taste is merely an illusion, created by how our senses and emotions surrounding food and drink combine in the brain.

In his book, he writes: 'The taste is not in the wine; the taste is created by the brain of the wine taster.'

He said the movement of wine through the mouth and alcohol-infused air through the nose causes the brain to conjure up a flavour.

The most important part of this 'brain activation' comes when we breath out wine-infused air after taking in a sniff, he added.

In his experiments, he claims to have found evidence that drinking wine engages more of the brain than enjoying music or even solving a challenging maths equation.

'The molecules in the wine don't have taste or flavour, but when they stimulate our brains, the brain creates flavour the same way it creates colour,' he told National Public Radio in the US.

The brain builds a picture of colours in the mind using information from the eyes about how light hits the objects around us.

Professor Shepherd claims that taste is merely an illusion, created by how our senses and emotions surrounding food and drink combine in the brain (stock photo)

Professor Shepherd believes flavour is constructed in the brain in a similar way, but is also impacted by the drinker's emotional connection to the wine in their glass.

He said how we perceive wine is 'heavily dependent on our memories and emotions and those of our companions.'

Other factors such as our gender, age and even the genetic make-up of our saliva can impact how wine tastes, he said.

But he warns against knocking it back as big sips 'saturate your system'.