<p>Strange but true... scientists say that drinking some beer before solving brain teasers can help you do better than those who attempt the riddles in a sober state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Alcohol clouds analytical thinking or so it is thought, but frees stifled ‘creative’ thoughts to well up, allowing subjects to come up with more imaginative insights or solutions. <br />University of Illinois psychologists set 40 healthy young men a series of brain teasers.<br /><br />They were given three words, such as coin, quick and spoon, and coming up with a fourth word that links the three - in this case silver, the journal of Consciousness and Cognition reports. <br /><br />Half the group drank the equivalent of two pints of beer before doing the tests, while the rest carried them out sober, according to The Telegraph. <br /><br />The drinking group solved nearly 40 percent more problems than the others, and took an average of 12 seconds compared to the 15.5 seconds needed by sober subjects.<br /><br />The researchers said: “The current research represents the first demonstration of alcohol’s effect on creative problem solving.” Study author Jennifer Wiley said: “The bottom line is that we think being too focused can blind you to novel possibilities, and a broader, more flexible state of attention is needed for creative solutions to emerge.” </p>
<p>Strange but true... scientists say that drinking some beer before solving brain teasers can help you do better than those who attempt the riddles in a sober state.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Alcohol clouds analytical thinking or so it is thought, but frees stifled ‘creative’ thoughts to well up, allowing subjects to come up with more imaginative insights or solutions. <br />University of Illinois psychologists set 40 healthy young men a series of brain teasers.<br /><br />They were given three words, such as coin, quick and spoon, and coming up with a fourth word that links the three - in this case silver, the journal of Consciousness and Cognition reports. <br /><br />Half the group drank the equivalent of two pints of beer before doing the tests, while the rest carried them out sober, according to The Telegraph. <br /><br />The drinking group solved nearly 40 percent more problems than the others, and took an average of 12 seconds compared to the 15.5 seconds needed by sober subjects.<br /><br />The researchers said: “The current research represents the first demonstration of alcohol’s effect on creative problem solving.” Study author Jennifer Wiley said: “The bottom line is that we think being too focused can blind you to novel possibilities, and a broader, more flexible state of attention is needed for creative solutions to emerge.” </p>