Neural correlates of the ‘Aha! reaction’

Luo, Jing; Niki, Kiyomi; Phillips, Steven

doi:10.1097/00001756-200409150-00004

Cited by 102 publications

(81 citation statements)

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“…These results suggest that the hippocampus reflects the cog-nitive processes underlying the forming of novel association, and the activity is enhanced by the neural connections and associations with surrounding neural structures. These results fully explain the association of insight with the hippocampus [10] in some studies, but others have observed associations with the parahipp-ocampus [22,24] or temporal regions that are adjacent to the hippocampus and the parahippocampus gyrus (e.g., STG [11,15] and temporoparietal junction [21,25,29]). …”

Section: Hippocampus Superior Temporal Gyrus and Fusiform Gyrusmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…left middle frontal gyrus and left frontal pole [7]. Second, some studies have observed activation of the left PFC in the breaking of mental set and presentation restructuring [15].…”

Section: Prefrontal Cortex (Pfc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The left inferior frontal gyrus was associated with the breaking of mental set and the resolution of cognitive conflict in this context. Luo et al [15] presented a series of routine and insight riddle problems to participants and asked them to take initiative and solve these problems prior to the presentation of the solutions. This research required participants to judge whether their generated solutions were identical to the subsequently presented solutions.…”

Section: Prefrontal Cortex (Pfc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the STG may represent the formation of the novel remote semantic associations that underlie insight problem solving. Luo et al [10,15,16,29] also observed activation in the right STG or its neighboring brain regions in the riddle guessing task and the chunk decomposition of Chinese characters task. The process that the subjects used to solve a list of puzzles that were constructed by different principles significantly activated the right STG (mainly BA 38) relative to the resting state, but the process of solving puzzles that were constructed using the same principle did not activate the STG or nearby areas relative to the resting state [29].…”

Section: Hippocampus Superior Temporal Gyrus and Fusiform Gyrusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New advances in the neural correlates of insight: A decade in review of the insightful brain

et al. 2012

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The first neuroimaging study of real-time brain activity during insight problem solving was conducted almost ten years ago. Many subsequent studies have used high-resolution event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the temporal dynamics and neural correlates of insight. Recent results on the neural underpinnings of insight have led researchers to propose a neural framework referred to as the "insightful brain". This putative framework represents the neural basis of the cognitive and affective processes that are involved in insight. The insightful brain may involve numerous brain regions, including the lateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, precuneus, cuneus, insula and cerebellum. Functional studies have demonstrated that the lateral prefrontal cortex is responsible for mental set shifting and breaking during insight problem solving. The cingulate cortex is involved in the cognitive conflict between new and old ideas and progress monitoring. The hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus form an integrated functional network that specializes in the formation of novel and effective associations. The effective transformation of problem representations depends on a non-verbal visuospatial information-processing network that comprises the precuneus and cuneus. The insula reflects cognitive flexibility and the emotional experience that is associated with insight. The cortical control of finger movements relies on the cerebellum. insight problem solving, insightful brain, creative thinking, neuroimaging, event-related potentials

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Section: Hippocampus Superior Temporal Gyrus and Fusiform Gyrusmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…left middle frontal gyrus and left frontal pole [7]. Second, some studies have observed activation of the left PFC in the breaking of mental set and presentation restructuring [15].…”

Section: Prefrontal Cortex (Pfc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prefrontal Cortex (Pfc)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hippocampus Superior Temporal Gyrus and Fusiform Gyrusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New advances in the neural correlates of insight: A decade in review of the insightful brain

et al. 2012

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“…Moreover, some researchers have maintained that solutions to problems involving insight are remembered better than those derived without insight (Luo & Niki, 2003). Analogously, in the delayed-cue condition of the Auble and Franks (1978) paradigm, subjects might develop insight when trying unsuccessfully for an extended period of time to figure out the meaning of an ambiguous sentence; the presentation of the disambiguating cue suddenly enables them to reorient their thinking in order to achieve comprehension (Luo, Niki, & Phillips, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of "effort after meaning" on recall: Differences in within- and between-subjects designs

Zaromb

Roediger

2009

Memory & Cognition

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What is the relationship between comprehension and memory? Ebbinghaus (1885Ebbinghaus ( /1964 began the scientific study of memory by attempting to avoid this question. By studying memory for three-letter trigrams under controlled experimental conditions, he assumed that he would not have to be concerned about the variability in how subjects understood or related to the stimuli. Nonetheless, Ebbinghaus noted that the lists of syllables he memorized exhibit very important and almost incomprehensible variations as to the ease or difficulty with which they are learned. It even appears from this point of view as if the differences between sense and nonsense material were not nearly as great as one would be inclined a priori to imagine. (p. 23) Others who followed in Ebbinghaus's footsteps measured differences in the meaningfulness of nonsense syllables (e.g., Archer, 1960;Glaze, 1928;Hull, 1933) in order to afford researchers better experimental control over these presumed variations in learning (see also Jenkins, 1985). Even the plainest materials seem to require an effort to find meaningfulness in order to comprehend and remember them (e.g., Prytulak, 1971).In contrast to Ebbinghaus's (1885/1964) approach, Bartlett (1932) presumed a direct relationship between processes involved in comprehension and acts of remembering. Specifically, Bartlett proposed that individuals engaged in a process of "effort after meaning," of which he wrote, it is fitting to speak of every human cognitive reaction-perceiving, imaging, remembering, thinking, and reasoning-as an effort after meaning. Certain of the tendencies which the subject brings with him into the situation with which he is called upon to deal are utilized so as to make his reaction the "easiest," or the least disagreeable, or the quickest and least obstructed that is at the time possible. When we try to discover how this is done we find that always it is by an effort to connect what is given with something else. (p. 44) In experiencing the world, humans presumably bring their past knowledge to bear on understanding current happenings. When it comes to remembering past occurrences, Bartlett argued that people attempt to make their recollections conform to cultural expectations, prior background knowledge, or the current context.To directly examine effort after meaning as it relates to memory, Auble and Franks (1978) developed an ingenious experimental paradigm in which subjects heard and later attempted to recall ambiguous sentences, such as "The clothes were ruined because the sign vanished," that were presented with or without disambiguating cues (i.e., wet paint). Where cues were provided, their conditions of presentation varied. In a control condition, the cue was meaningfully embedded within the sentence (i.e., "The clothes were ruined because the wet paint sign vanished"). In other conditions, the sentence preceded the cue. In four experiments, we examined free recall of ambiguous sentences with or without corresponding cues to facilitate comprehension, using A...

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Creativity

Chrysikou

2018

Stevens' Handbook of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

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The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of some key background issues and recent trends in the experimental and cognitive neuroscience study of creativity. Despite its status as a hallmark of higher order thinking, research on creativity has not progressed with the same rigor as the study of other aspects of human cognition. Among the challenges for creativity researchers are concerns with the operational definition and measurement of this seemingly elusive ability. Research on the neurocognitive bases of creative thinking suggests that creativity is highly multifaceted and requires intricate interhemispheric interactions among a widely distributed network of brain regions. Recent theoretical and methodological perspectives highlight the importance of moving away from approaching creativity as a unitary construct, synonymous to the abstract concept of divergent thinking. Instead, they focus on specific cognitive and neural processes underlying creative thought, which may rely on trade‐offs between spontaneous and regulatory brain networks.

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Neural correlates of the ‘Aha! reaction’

Cited by 102 publications

References 20 publications

New advances in the neural correlates of insight: A decade in review of the insightful brain

New advances in the neural correlates of insight: A decade in review of the insightful brain

The effects of "effort after meaning" on recall: Differences in within- and between-subjects designs

Creativity

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