A Glass Of Wine Can Make You More Creative

Ok, most of us already know alcohol lowers a loooot of things cough, inhibitions but did you know there is something it can apparently increase? **According to a recent study,**a small glass of wine (or beer, if that’s your thing), can actually increase creativity and boost productivity.

So, does liquor make you quicker? Well, many of the legendary writers of the 20th century were renowned for indulging in a bevvy - many took it to the extreme (Poe, Kerouac, to name a few), and since their passing, it has been claimed that alcohol contributed to the creativity of some of the literary greats.Now, the University of Grazin Austria have released the results of their study which found some truth in this claim.

The study - ‘Creativity on tap’ – concluded that alcohol does indeed hold the capability to unleash artistic abilities. Dr Mathias Benedek of the study told the MailOnline,‘A small drink can indeed help with certain aspects of creativity.’ The study looked at how creative cognition in the brain was affected by alcohol intoxication and this was done through a ‘placebo-controlled design’.

Each of the 70 participants in the study were given a drink - some which contained alcohol and some which did not - both tasted the same though, so they were unable to distinguish. Both the drinkers and non-drinkers were given a series of cognitive ‘games’ (no, not ‘never have I ever’...), one included a word-association game and all were asked what word links, ‘blue’, ‘swiss’ and ‘cake’. The ‘drinkers’ of the study had a higher rate of answering correctly – the answer is cheese (just in case you haven’t had a tipple).

Basically, according to lead researcher Benedek, alcohol in moderation can help us think outside the box and can aid in finding solutions to problems by approaching them ‘from another direction’. He even went on to say that a glass of wine could be useful in the most unexpected of places, ‘It might work well for someone who is sitting down to do creative writing or brainstorming ideas in a boardroom’.

Beware though, excessive alcohol consumption can have the opposite effect and actually decrease productivity and creativity. The difficulty is stopping at just one, of course. If you are one with willpower though, that one glass may help you find that ‘alternate solution’ to that Sudoku you’ve been struggling to finish.

**Like this? You might also be interested in: **

Science Says The Smell Of Alcohol Can Get You Drunk

Alcohol Is The Ultimate Frenemy: Confessions Of A 20s Teetotaller

Being Creative Outside Of Work Makes You Better At Your Job

Follow Jasmine on Twitter: @Jasminexfx

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.