Watching U-tube videos is not a waste a time, seriously !

Turns out the short funny interlude provided by a funny U-tube video,  is enough to get the creative  juices flowing in your brain, allowing you to find innovative solutions to problems.  

I’m not making this up, the magic of the funny U-tube video has been scientifically validated.  So this week’s Neurotechnology Tip encourages you to give your brain a laugh to stimulate your creative juices.

Laughing in class

Researchers at Ontario University put students through their paces.  The students had to classify a series of complex patterns, a task that required creative problem solving skills. 

Before sitting down to the task, the students watched a video either of a laughing baby (happy) or a news report of an earthquake (sad) or nothing.  The “happy” students, who had watched a clip of a laughing baby,  outperformed  students who had watched the sad video as well as those that didn’t get to watch a video prior to performing the task.

So take a moment to stimulate your creativity

So if  someone catches you watching a really funny U-tube video, when you’re supposed to be “working” – there is now officially no need to feel guilty.  You can confidently proclaim that you were not wasting time, but in fact boosting your cognitive performance.   The results of the minor interruption will be evident in your super creative output.

Only take a moment

 So should you take this research to heart and watch a full length comedy when you’re supposed to be working ?

 Well, probably not, a U-tube clip has the advantage of only taking a few minutes to watch (assuming you’re adequately connected) and gives an instant lift.  Once you are “happy” you can then get down to the hard work of being creative.

Avoid horror clips at all costs

Of course, the flip side of this research is that you need to ration your quotient of the news, it is always bad, if you have a creative project.  Watching death and destruction is going to be a bit of a damper on your creativity.

Better Mood and Better Performance: Learning Rule Described Categories Is Enhanced by Positive Mood. Psychological Science (2010) 21: 1770-1776.  Ruby T. Nadler, Rahel Rabi, John Paul Minda.

P.S.   If you have a particularly funny U-tube video that will get creativity flowing.  Share the link on .

 To wire up your brain a little each week ………………..

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Did you learn something new or do you have a different perspective ? I’d love to hear from you so post me a comment below…..