AHA! Solution Found Before Problem Even Presented!

Most everyone has at some point in their lives experienced a Eureka! of creative insight – that point upon where prior to it one had a problem to solve until right afterward the solution presented itself through a seemingly creative explosion. One did not work through a linear path toward solution, it simply presented itself as an unconscious act of clarity. A common term for attempting to call forth such enlightenment is: “to think outside the box,” which upon hearing tends to thwart any possibility of further insight due to the listener’s extreme pain from their bleeding eardrums. It’s called autoimmune hearing impairment due to hazardous cliché exposure. Fortunately, brain science is here to the rescue with some new — and amazing — facts! Perhaps in short order that old ‘box’ cliché can be stamped out of existence, saving us all from further eardrum damage and thus giving us further opportunities to attend ear splitting Metallica concerts.

Below the fold, a fascinating new tidbit from world of SciEnCe …

If the 1990’s were the decade of the brain, our decade, the 2000’s, could be labeled the decade of — well — the brain. And the Genome. And nanotechonolgy. And robotics. Blah blah blah …

Thus, it should be no surprise that researchers John Kounios of Drexel University and Mark Jung-Beeman of Northwestern University, along with their research teams, have interesting new findings to report, which are slated to soon appear in Psychological Science. See the paper at a University library near you. For now, I’ll summarize the press release published at eurekalert.org (irony.meter.pegged.at.10: explosion.imminent!)

The researchers wanted to understand why such moments come about easily at some times and with frustrating irregularity at others. Prior research by this team had already discerned that there are differences between brain function when one experiences a Eureka! like insight compared to linear problem solving.

Previous research by this team demonstrated that the brain functions differently when a person arrives at “Aha!” solutions, compared to methodical solutions.

The new study indicates that a range of predictable patterns of brain activity exist which show whether a problem will be solved through insight or by linear problem solving. Further, these patterns exist long before the occurrence of this insight. Which, according to researchers, suggests that one can learn to call forth insight in oneself with the proper training.

The research suggests that people can mentally prepare to have an “Aha!” solution even before a problem is presented.

Looking at the process in detail, based on brain activity studies, the researchers state that the first step in the process of calling forth insight is to “… focus attention inwardly …” be ready to “… switch attention to new trains of thought …” and “… perhaps silence irrelevant thoughts.” These suggestions might seem too general to be meaningful, except — as the researchers point out — it is possible using brain scan technology to predict these internal state changes:

… people can mentally prepare to solve problems with different thinking styles and that these different forms of preparation can be identified with specific patterns of brain activity. This study may eventually lead to an understanding of how to put people in the optimal “frame of mind” to deal with particular types of problems.

and thus if one can predict the change, one can presumably be trained to bring such a change forth at will. Interesting!

The actual process behind the study involved participants solving complex word puzzles while being scanned using two types of devices. The first, an fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) brain scanner was used during the study to discern the differing types of topographical brain activation patterns. The second, an EEG (ElectroEncephaloGraph) was used to measure precise timings with only approximate anatomical measurements throughout the brain. Using these two differing brain scanning tools, researchers, focusing on neural activity that occurred just prior to offering the study participant a word problem, were able to discern that:

The two brain imaging techniques yielded highly similar results and showed a different pattern of brain activity prior to problems that they subsequently solved with an “Aha!”, compared to the pattern of brain activity prior to problems they solved more methodically.

Based upon these findings the researchers determined that Eurkea! type solutions tended to focus activity in the “… in temporal lobe areas associated with conceptual processing …” as well as “… frontal lobe areas associated with cognitive control or “top-down” processing.” However, problem solving through linear step-by-step progression tends to focus on:

… increased neural activity in the visual cortex at the back of the brain — suggesting that preparation for deliberate problem solving simply involved external focus of attention on the video monitor on which the problem would be displayed.

Thus, just prior to experiencing a Eureka! moment, participants while attempting to solve a difficult word problem would tend to “… momentarily [reduce] visual inputs, with an effect similar to a person shutting his or her eyes or looking away to facilitate the emergence into consciousness of the solution.”

Whether this means that cutting out visual distraction is key to calling forth insight in problem solving is unanswered within the press release. However, the material presented is certainly *cough!* cliché *cough!* food for thought. Hope your eardrums aren’t bleeding….

Please note: all quotes taken directly from article text.

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