Sweet talk your brain into a creative streak

IF YOU’RE struggling to complete your crossword or daily Wordle and require a creative spark, nibbling on a sweet treat may give you the boost you need, a study suggests.

Scientists have found that sweetness improves creativity but they say it is not by virtue of a sugar rush.

The link with creativity is thought to be because of the way humans associate sweet taste with positive experiences and situations, allowing our brains to become more open and improve lateral thinking.

However, research head Dr Lidan Xu, from the University of North Texas, said the power of sweetness is specific to creativity and does not improve people’s performance on analytical, attention-to-detail tasks.

“When people perceive the nature of a situation as positive with no threat, they are willing to adopt an explorative mindset, which broadens their attention to encompass novel ideas,” said Dr Xu.

In contrast, analytical and attentionto-detail tasks require a more narrow, rigid focus, she said.

“Sweet food is often consumed in a positive environment, such as when you are seeking comfort, during celebrations (eg birthdays), or family/ friends’ gatherings,” Dr Xu said.

“Because of these positive associations that people have developed over a long period of time, sweetness has been developed into a positive implicit affective [relating to mood] cue.”

The research is published in the journal Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes.