Creative thinking: try lying dow
Keep that pen and paper by the bed: new research by an ANU PhD graduate suggests it may be that our most creative thoughts come when we’re lying down. Dr Darren Lipnicki, from the School of Psychology in the Faculty of Science at ANU, found that people solved anagrams more quickly when they were lying down compared to standing up. "Solving an anagram often produces an "A-ha!" or Eureka moment ‚Äî the answer appears suddenly, often out of the blue. These "insight" moments are similar to what people experience when achieving creative breakthroughs," Dr Lipnicki said. "Therefore, it might be that we have our most creative thoughts while flat on our back," he said. According to Dr Lipnicki, whose results are to be published in Cognitive Brain Research, the reason this happens may involve differences in brain chemistry between lying down and standing up. "In theory, there may be greater release of a chemical, noradrenaline, in the brain wh...