Alcohol facilitates creative thinking finds researchers
Some people think they are creative geniuses once they have had a drink or two and researchers have now found evidence to prove them correct, at least to an extent.
Published in Volume 55 of the Consciousness and Cognition Journal, researchers administered tests to assess study participants executive function, creativity evaluation skills and creative potential, before and after drinking a low alcoholic beer or a non-alcoholic beer.
The results showed that the low alcohol beer “facilitated creative problem solving”. The researchers said this was possibly because alcohol’s ability to reduce cognitive control leads to more spontaneous ‘eureka’ moments.
The researchers however stressed that the beneficial effects of drinking would likely only apply to “very modest” levels of alcohol and that the effects appear to be limited to only some creative processes.
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