Schedule of Events | Symposia

A novel framework to link insight to general brain mechanisms

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 3:00 – 5:00 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 2 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Independence Ballroom.

Maxi Becker^1,2 (almaxi@gmail.com), Simon Davis^1,2, Roberto Cabeza²; ¹Humboldt University Berlin, ²Duke University

Sudden insights rank among the most captivating human phenomena. They combine a cognitive breakthrough with the distinctive “Aha” moment—marked by suddenness, surprise, pleasure and confidence in the solution. Why are we surprised and certain about thoughts we generate ourselves? While classical theories emphasize the cognitive processes leading to insights, a novel framework, the insight-as-prediction-error hypothesis, offers a broader explanation, linking the Aha! experience to enhanced memory and general brain mechanisms. According to this framework, the brain forms an internal model based on prior experience, predicting patterns to interpret problem elements. Negative cognitive prediction errors (PEs) accumulate when predictions fail. Insight occurs when the internal model is restructured such that negative cognitive PEs are sharply reduced generating positive meta-cognitive PEs (representing surprise about the sudden solution) which leads to a strong internal model update and enhances its long-term memory encoding. We provide evidence from behavioral, eye-tracking and neuroimaging data to empirically support this theoretical framework. Behaviorally, we demonstrate that the intensity of the Aha! experience is directly influenced by PEs associated with both the solution and its process, as well as by pupil dilation before the solution, a marker for reward PEs. Neurally, we show a sharp reduction in negative PEs during visual insight in higher visual brain areas. Additionally, we identify modality-independent activity in hippocampus, ACC and medial PFC during insight and subsequent memory, reflecting the detection and integration of metacognitive PEs. These findings deepen our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying insight and its role in adaptive learning.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Other