– Why do most people think more effectively when looking upwards?
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I don’t think this is actually true because I haven’t come across any studies that prove this….but if u consider in general looking up means generally looking at the ceiling or the sky which is plain and pleasant…..so I think looking up eliminates all the background noise from our surroundings to the brains like the visual stimulation from our eyes so I think we can concentrate more on what we are thinking….
Before we attempt to offer explanations – is there good data to substantiate this claim? I’m not sure there is.
There’s not much to see when you look up: a sky, the ceiling, etc. This reduces the chance of visual distractions while you think. Also, it’s a non-verbal way to communicate to other people that you are thinking about something and not just spacing out.
In the area of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), it’s understood that there’s a relationship between unconscious eye movement and cognitive function. The direction of the eye movement relates to which hemisphere of the brain is being used at that point.
So (for a right handed person), if a person’s eyes move up and to the left, then that indicates ‘non-dominant hemisphere visualisation’. In other words, that person is remembering things visually.
Eyes moving up and right indicates ‘dominant hemisphere visualisation’ – ie, constructed imagery and fantasy.
So, tl;dr – if a person looks up and right, they’re actually remembering something, but if they look up and left, they’re generally making something up. Skilled people can use these cues to determine if someone is telling the truth or lying.
There’s a thought that this (subconscious) eye movement triggers the visual components of the brain, so people who are better at visualising information are more likely to look upwards.
Another thought is that moving the eyes to a certain position helps the brain focus by lowering input from one of the main senses and reducing ‘noise’ that the brain has to deal with.
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