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The cognitive neuroscience of insight
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The cognitive neuroscience of insight

John Kounios and Mark Beeman
Annual review of psychology, v 65(1)
2014
PMID: 24405359

Abstract

Attention - physiology Brain - physiology Cognition - physiology Comprehension - physiology Creativity Functional Laterality - physiology Humans Problem Solving - physiology
Insight occurs when a person suddenly reinterprets a stimulus, situation, or event to produce a nonobvious, nondominant interpretation. This can take the form of a solution to a problem (an "aha moment"), comprehension of a joke or metaphor, or recognition of an ambiguous percept. Insight research began a century ago, but neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques have been applied to its study only during the past decade. Recent work has revealed insight-related coarse semantic coding in the right hemisphere and internally focused attention preceding and during problem solving. Individual differences in the tendency to solve problems insightfully rather than in a deliberate, analytic fashion are associated with different patterns of resting-state brain activity. Recent studies have begun to apply direct brain stimulation to facilitate insight. In sum, the cognitive neuroscience of insight is an exciting new area of research with connections to fundamental neurocognitive processes.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychology
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
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