Sudden Insights and the Brain: The Aha Moment

Introduction

Insight is the result of a variety of human cognitive processes. An insight could derive from logical formations of ideas through analytic reasoning. Another kind of insight, the sudden creative idea, or the unexpected solution to a problem, is referred to as an "aha moment,” or an “aha experience.” Simple examples are solving a difficult riddle or interpreting a joke or cartoon quickly. Sometimes an elusive and profound idea or concept emerges that reflects a new understanding within a field of study or in one’s life. Researchers in various fields are studying what brain activity underlies insight, and specifically the aha moment, through advanced technologies. This blog provides some possible ways to promote insight and the aha moment in our daily lives and work.

What is Insight?

We experience new perceptions and new ideas frequently during our daily lives. These can be prompted by external factors, like reading, media reports, the arts, or conversation, or by internal mental processes, such as remembering past experiences or interactions. We all routinely face problems in need of solutions, and difficult challenges that need resolutions. If the new idea or perception occurs suddenly, we refer to it as an “aha moment” or an “aha experience.” Perhaps you were facing difficulty moving forward on a creative project, and then suddenly you said “Eureka!” as you became unstuck.

This type of sudden insight can underpin important scientific achievements. For example, the Archimedes’ principle states that any object in water is pushed upward by a weight equal to the weight of the water it displaces. An object that weighs more than the water it displaces will sink. If it weighs less, it will float. One account says that the principle occurred to Archimedes while he was bathing.

Scientists who already possess a deep and broad understanding of their field may never have aha moments. Some insight researchers have theorized that analytic approaches may create rigid mental models that resist new perspectives and interpretations. The Archimedes example suggests that unconscious mechanisms, perhaps elicited during a relaxed state, enables the generation of these insights. A deep and broad knowledge base sets the stage, but unconscious processes elicit the aha moment.

Norwegian psychologists Øystein Olav Skaar and Rolf Reber describe the four defining features of the aha experience (“metacognitive feelings”):

1. a sudden insight leads to change
2. processing fluency increases
3. the insight has a positive effect
4. there is subjective certainty that the insight is true.

In a retrospective study of more than 600 subjects, their research showed evidence for these defining features. Their studies show a positive effect and motivational component of the aha moment for adults. Other Norwegian researchers, Josefine Haugen and colleagues demonstrated that young children understand at an above-chance level that an aha experience is associated with happy feelings, not sad feelings.

Where in the Brain Does an Aha Moment Occur?

Researchers in psychology and cognitive neuroscience use imaging technologies such as fMRI and EEG to study the brain processes associated with the aha moment. EEG gives the when and fMRI tells you where. This research is not conclusive, but there are suggestions that brain activity in certain cerebral areas is part of the story, depending on the problem posed. These areas include the hippocampus (short-term memory center), prefrontal cortex (site of working memory), the right parietal lobes (a spatial center), and the anterior superior temporal gyrus (an integrative brain center) form part of the network that can produce these perceptions. Recent studies by Maxi Becker and Roberto Cabeza linked insight brain processes to prediction, surprise, and reward factors, and to enhancement of long-term memory. Another recent study by Carola Salvi and colleagues used diffuse tensor imaging (DTI) to find evidence of the importance of white matter tracts such as the arcuate fasciculus in insight research.

There is also evidence that the left and right hemispheres of the brain may play different roles in the aha experience. In a series of experiments, cognitive scientists Mark Jung-Beeman and Edward Bowden took advantage of an understanding of differences between left and right brain function in human brains, at least at a basic level. (The left brain is primarily engaged in conscious processing of speech and the right brain in the perception of space, which is partially unconscious.) They controlled which eye the subjects used to see a computer screen, and flashed solutions to insight problems (that the subjects had previously failed) to either the left or right eye. The subjects perceived the solutions much more often when they were seen with the left eye (through crossed pathway from the left to the right hemisphere). The researchers concluded that insight is a fundamental right brain phenomenon and largely results from unconscious processes. The aha moment only occurred when the right brain sent the solutions to the left brain, resulting in conscious awareness.

Critical Thinking and Insight

All of us daily confront misinformation and disinformation. Facing a firehose of information, and deciding what to believe, requires critical thinking skills and fact-checking. What does insight have to do with our ability to sift through the barrage? Salvi and colleagues recently demonstrated that the ability to use insight problem-solving predicted the ability of individuals to identify “fake news and bullshit...and is associated with reduced overclaiming.” Linking studies of insight and denialism will hopefully lead to developing better educational methods for fostering critical thinking.

Can We Foster More Aha Moments?

Anecdotes of famous scientific discoveries have common elements. Relaxation, sleep, and daydreaming may enable aha moments. Scientists, other problem-solvers, and creative thinkers have a body of knowledge and experience to tap from. It is possible that the unconscious parts of the brain function better during unstructured times for all of us, allowing for both synthesis of knowledge, along with new, even revolutionary, insights.

Regulating our sleep-wake cycles may be a very important part of the strategy to foster insights. The glymphatic system which clears the brain’s waste, is active during deep sleep. The system removes metabolic waste such as toxins and excess amyloid-beta and tau protein (implicated in neurodegenerative diseases). As the glymphatic system clears the waste, aha moments may be accompanied by bursts of gamma wave activity and dopamine release in the reward system of the brain. Gamma waves are associated with higher-order cognitive functions and are known to be decreased in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Glymphatic activity is not only protective against disease processes, but it can facilitate memory consolidation in the hippocampus. Awakening after a good night’s sleep leads to clarity of thinking and generation of insights, including both aha moments as well as other less dramatic perceptions and problem-solving. If we fail to get adequate sleep, we can experience reduced cognitive abilities and mental fatigue. Allowing time for your mind to wander and promoting positive thoughts throughout the day are other useful strategies.

For those readers wanting to learn more about research into insight and the aha moment, tune in to this recent podcast with researcher John Kounios, interviewed by Keith Sawyer.