London, Sept. 2 (PTI): The cure for hangover may lie in the size of the glass, say scientists.

A new Oxford University study has revealed that drinkers tend to pour more alcohol when using short, wide tumblers rather than tall, slender glasses. According to the scientists, this is because of an “optical illusion”.

Prof. Charles Spence, who led the study, blamed a trick of the eye called the “vertical horizontal illusion” in which the brain overestimates vertical distances and underestimates horizontal ones.

The psychologist found that drinkers poured up to 80 per cent more into a short, wide glass than a tall, slender one, even when both glasses held the same volume. Even veteran bartenders poured 26 per cent more alcohol into tumblers than highball glasses.