“Scientists funded in part by the Mars Inc. candy company delivered the not-unwelcome news Sunday morning during what was described as the first systematic review of chocolate’s effects on learning and memory.

A two-hour symposium on the neurobiology of chocolate, billed as a potentially ‘mind-altering experience,’ drew a standing-room-only crowd during the annual meeting in San Francisco of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Five years ago, a similar meeting popularized evidence suggesting that flavanols, a chemical found in the beans from which chocolate is made, have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.

Now it seems chocolate might do even more.” `(San Francisco Chronicle)