{"id":669319,"date":"2025-05-15T10:36:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/brain-scans-reveal-what-happens-in-the-mind-when-insight-strikes\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T10:36:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:36:04","slug":"brain-scans-reveal-what-happens-in-the-mind-when-insight-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brain-scans-reveal-what-happens-in-the-mind-when-insight-strikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Brain scans reveal what happens in the mind when insight strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a11f0db1b5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a11f0db1b5\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brain-scans-reveal-what-happens-in-the-mind-when-insight-strikes\/#How_the_study_worked\" >How the study worked<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brain-scans-reveal-what-happens-in-the-mind-when-insight-strikes\/#A_boost_for_memory\" >A boost for memory<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/brain-scans-reveal-wha-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/brain-scans-reveal-wha-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Examples of the hidden picture puzzles in the black\/white images on the lower panel; corresponding real-world pictures on the upper panel. Credit: Maxi Becker et al\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/brain-scans-reveal-wha-1.jpg\" alt=\"Brain scans reveal what happens in the mind when insight strikes\" title=\"Examples of the hidden picture puzzles in the black\/white images on the lower panel; corresponding real-world pictures on the upper panel. Credit: Maxi Becker et al\" width=\"800\" height=\"313\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Examples of the hidden picture puzzles in the black\/white images on the lower panel; corresponding real-world pictures on the upper panel. Credit: Maxi Becker et al<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Have you ever been stuck on a problem, puzzling over something for what felt like ages without getting anywhere, but then suddenly the answer came to you like a bolt from the blue?<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve all experienced that &#8220;aha! moment,&#8221; that sudden clarity or magical epiphany you feel when a new idea or perspective pops into your head as if out of nowhere.<\/p>\n<p>Now, new evidence from brain imaging research shows that these flashes of insight aren&#8217;t just satisfying\u2014they actually reshape how your brain represents information, and help sear it into memory.<\/p>\n<p>Led by researchers at Duke University and Humboldt and Hamburg Universities in Germany, the work has implications for education, suggesting that fostering &#8220;eureka moments&#8221; could help make learning last beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>If you have an aha experience when solving something, &#8220;you&#8217;re actually more likely to remember the solution,&#8221; said first author Maxi Becker, a postdoctoral fellow at Humboldt University in Berlin.<\/p>\n<p>The findings were <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-025-59355-4\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> May 9 in the journal <i>Nature Communications<\/i>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_the_study_worked\"><\/span>How the study worked<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the study, the researchers used a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record people&#8217;s brain activity while they tried to solve visual brain teasers. The puzzles required them to &#8220;fill in the blanks&#8221; of a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of two-tone images with minimal detail, using their perception to complete the picture and identify a real-world object.<\/p>\n<p>Such hidden picture puzzles serve as small-scale proxies for bigger eureka moments. &#8220;It&#8217;s just a little discovery that you are making, but it produces the same type of characteristics that exist in more important insight events,&#8221; said senior author Roberto Cabeza, a professor of psychology and neuro<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> at Duke.<\/p>\n<p>For each puzzle the participants thought they solved, the researchers asked whether the solution just popped into their awareness in a flash of sudden insight, or whether they worked it out in a more deliberate and methodical way, and how certain they were of their answer.<\/p>\n<p>The results were striking.<\/p>\n<p>Participants tended to recall solutions that came to them in a flash of insight far better than ones they arrived at without this sense of epiphany. Furthermore, the more conviction a person felt about their insight at the time, the more likely they were to remember it five days later when the researchers asked them again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you have an &#8216;aha! moment&#8217; while learning something, it almost doubles your memory,&#8221; said Cabeza, who has been studying memory for 30 years. &#8220;There are few memory effects that are as powerful as this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A number of changes in the brain may cause people to have better memory for &#8220;aha! moments,&#8221; the researchers found.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_boost_for_memory\"><\/span>A boost for memory<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>They discovered that flashes of insight trigger a burst of activity in the brain&#8217;s hippocampus, a cashew-shaped structure buried deep in the temporal lobe that plays a major role in learning and memory. The more powerful the insight, the greater the boost.<\/p>\n<p>They also found that the activation patterns across the participants&#8217; neurons changed once they spotted the hidden object and saw the image in a new light\u2014particularly in certain parts of the brain&#8217;s ventral occipito-temporal cortex, the region responsible for recognizing visual patterns. The stronger the epiphany, the greater the change in those areas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;During these moments of insight, the brain reorganizes how it sees the image,&#8221; said Becker, who did the work in the Cabeza lab.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, stronger &#8220;aha!&#8221; experiences were associated with greater connectivity between these different brain regions. &#8220;The different regions communicate with each other more efficiently,&#8221; Cabeza said.<\/p>\n<p>The current study looked at brain activity at two specific moments in time, before and after the eureka moment when the lightbulb <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared. As a next step, the researchers plan to look more closely at what happens during the few seconds in between that allows people to finally see the answer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Insight is key for creativity,&#8221; Cabeza said. In addition to shedding light on how the brain comes up with creative solutions, the findings also lend support for inquiry-based learning in the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Learning environments that encourage insight could boost long-term memory and understanding,&#8221; the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n                                                    Maxi Becker et al, Insight predicts subsequent memory via cortical representational change and hippocampal activity, <i>Nature Communications<\/i> (2025). <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-59355-4\" target=\"_blank\">DOI: 10.1038\/s41467-025-59355-4<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDuke University<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"http:\/\/www.duke.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n                                                 <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 Brain scans reveal what happens in the mind when insight strikes (2025, May 14)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved 15 May 2025<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-05-brain-scans-reveal-mind-insight.html\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n                                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-05-brain-scans-reveal-mind-insight.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Examples of the hidden picture puzzles in the black\/white images on the lower panel; corresponding real-world pictures on the upper panel. Credit: Maxi Becker et al Have you ever been stuck on a problem, puzzling over something for what felt like ages without getting anywhere, but then suddenly the answer came to you like a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":669320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/brain-scans-reveal-wha-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-669319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}