Amber liquid helps solving crosswords (4)

ARTISTS throughout history have claimed that alcohol boosts creativity and triggers flights of productivity. And it appears that was not just wishful drinking.

According to a study, downing a pint of beer for men, or just over half a pint for women, boosted test scores in 132 people who were given a range of creative tasks. In one word association test, alcohol increased test scores by around 40 per cent.

In the test, participants were given three words and asked to think of a word that could be connected to each. For example, the word “pit” can be attached to “peach”, “arm” and “tar”.

Researchers from the University of Graz, in Austria, believe that alcohol helps remove the parameters that surround a problem, allowing more creative thought, thus helping drinkers think outside of the box.

The study suggests a glass of wine or beer could be the key to unlocking the mental alacrity needed to complete a cryptic crossword or write a witty bestman’s speech.

However, while alcohol boosted creativity, it decreased “executive function” and so is likely to impede endeavours that require motor skills, such as painting or dancing.

Mathias Benedek, of the department of psychology at the University of Graz, and lead author of the study, said: “Anecdotal reports link intoxication to creativity. Creative problem-solving tasks are often solved by spontaneous insight, and accompanied by “Aha”-experiences.

“Alcohol-impaired executive control, but improved performance in the Remote Associates Test.”

The research was published in the journal Consciousness & Cognition.