According to the Independent, a new study suggests that getting more sleep may help people appear more intelligent.

A new study from researchers at the University of St Andrews has found getting more sleep may help people appear more intelligent to their teachers and employers by influencing their natural expression.

The research, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, reveals attractive people are often perceived as being more intelligent and scientists set out to investigate how individuals can change their perceived intelligence, regardless of their attractiveness.

“The solution,” says Sean Talamas, lead author of the study and a post-doc researcher in the School of Psychology and Neurosciences’ Perception Laboratory, “seems to lie in subtle differences in a resting facial expression that are related to sleep – namely eyelid droopiness and subtle frowning”.

The scientists used special face-processing software to measure the degree of eyelid openness and mouth curvature in 190 child and adult faces with a ‘neutral expression’.

Over 200 evaluators then rated the faces on their attractiveness and intelligence.

The results found those faces with a subtle frown and droopy eyes were perceived as less intelligent.

Get the full story at www.independent.co.uk