The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain — The science behind creative insights.

I first came across the work of cognitive neuroscientist Mark Beeman when I was reading David Rock's "Your Brain at Work" a couple of years ago. Beeman & Kounios's work focuses around "insights." It turns out that insightful thinking and analytical thinking are at odds with each other. An example of a problem that you might solve with insight would be to think of one word that could go with each of the following three words: crab, tree, sauce. You might try to solve that problem analytically: you would systematically choose different words, trying that word with each of the problem words, moving on to a different word if that one didn't work. Or, you might solve it insightfully: suddenly the answer just seems to pop into your head. These types of thinking show different activity in the brain, and some people seem to be hardwired to think in one way or the other. But, there are some ways to encourage insightful thinking in yourself: working in the morning while you're still groggy, in a room with a high ceiling, and while listening to familiar music that doesn't invade your consciousness, might be a good way – science would suggest – to encourage "remote associates" thinking. Kounios and Beeman systematically show, through their research and the research of other scientists, exactly what insight is, and how best to coax your brain into insightful thinking. (The answer to the insight problem above is "apple")