Want to brainstorm or master mind for a great idea? We're smarter and more creative lying down than standing up, according to research on workplace productivity from Australian National University. 

In a study led by psychologist Darren Lipnicki, 20 people were given 32 five-letter anagrams to solve, such as "osien" and "nodru." Anagrams were ideal for the study because they are insight problems requiring creative thinking that are solved in a moment of sudden awareness, unlike a math problem. The participants were able to solve the anagrams more quickly if they were on their backs than if they were on their feet, report ABC Science Online and Discovery.com. "[Often] the solution just pops into the mind similar to the 'aha' or 'eureka' experience associated with large-scale creative breakthroughs," Lipnicki told ABC Science Online. "In that sense, anagrams replicate the experience because it's easier to solve them, or solve them more rapidly, lying down.”

It's brain chemistry, specifically how neurotransmitters are released when we're lying down or standing up. Noradrenaline is a chemical associated with cognitive ability and attention but is also thought to weaken creative thinking. Less noradrenaline is released when we lie down than when we're upright. Lipnicki says his research is still preliminary, and says it's too soon for companies to rush out and buy beds for their conference rooms. The study findings will be published in the journal Cognitive Brain Research.