CHAMPAIGN, Ill., May 12 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've determined the brain can use bodily cues to help understand and solve complex problems.
University of Illinois Professor Alejandro Lleras, who led the study with Vanderbilt University postdoctoral researcher Laura Thomas, said the research is the first to show a person's ability to solve a problem can be influenced by body movements.
"Our manipulation is changing the way people think," said Lleras. "In other words, by directing the way people move their bodies, we are -- unbeknownst to them -- directing the way they think about the problem."
In one experiment, people were told to swing their arms while trying to solve a problem that involved swinging strings. The scientists said even after successfully solving the problem, few of the study subjects became aware of any connection between their physical activity and the solution they found.
"The results are interesting both because body motion can affect higher order thought … and because this effect occurs even when someone else is directing the movements of the person trying to solve the problem," Lleras said.
The researchers said their findings offer new insight into what researchers call "embodied cognition," which describes the link between body and mind.
The study is to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
