May 10, 2005— We're smarter and more creative lying down than standing up, says a researcher who believes this helps to explain Archimedes' eureka moment.

Darren Lipnicki from the school of psychology at the Australian National University (ANU) found that people solve anagrams more quickly when they are on their backs than on their feet.

He said his research, which will be published in the journal Cognitive Brain Research, relates to how neurotransmitters are released.

Lipnicki tested 20 people, who were asked to solve 32 five-letter anagrams, such as 'osien' and 'nodru' while standing and lying down.

"I found anagrams were solved more quickly lying down than standing up," he said.

"[Often] the solution just pops into the mind similar to the 'aha' or 'eureka' experience associated with large-scale creative breakthroughs.

"In that sense anagrams replicate that experience because it's easier to solve them, or solve them more rapidly, lying down. That suggests that creative thinking might also be facilitated when lying down."

Lipnicki said his finding relates to the difference in brain chemistry, specifically the release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, when lying down or standing up.

While noradrenaline is normally associated with cognitive ability and attention, it is also believed to impair creative thinking.

And less is released while lying down.

Archimedes and Reclining Poets

Lipnicki said there is historical evidence for his finding in the case of the Greek mathematician Archimedes, who worked out while lying in his bath that the amount of water that overflowed his tub was proportional to the amount of his body that was submerged.

The observation became known as Archimedes' principle, or the principle that an object immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force equal in magnitude to the force of gravity on the displaced fluid.

Professor of medieval history Donnchadh O'Corrain of University College Cork said medieval Irish poets also composed their complicated court poetry while lying flat on a couch in a darkened room.

And there are descriptions dating back to 1571 of how law students studied by lying on flat straw pallets, he said.