The Brain, Inspired

New research into the brain provides intriguing information about the neural activity associated with moments of sudden insight. A study at the University of British Columbia examined how groups of frontal cortex neurons in rat brains switch from encoding a familiar rule to a completely novel rule that could only be deduced through trial and error. As the animals figured out the new rule, their brains exhibited a abrupt shift to a new pattern—as if the network had experienced an “a-ha” moment.