#DEFINE AHA MOMENT SERIES#

So then I had to pay attention to the process and try to document everything I did to see what actually caused it. I was quite surprised to discover it was actually more of a process.

I took note of some of my most recent “aha” moments to see just what occurred. Once I realized I seem to have a process, I started analyzing what I actually do on a regular basis. I started analyzing my own life and I actually discovered I seem to have a process from which these light bulb moments seem to originate. Then I got thinking if we could actually cause ourselves to have light bulb moments what a great tool that would be in our everyday lives. The more I got thinking about these light bulb moment the more I wondered: When I hear the phrase, “light bulb moment”, I always picture the old cartoons with a picture of a light bulb over the character’s head, indicating they had an idea which is where the phrase originated, I believe. It is easily recognized by being struck with a life-changing realization often beginning with some small everyday occurrence or experience. It can also be called an “aha” moment or an epiphany moment. So basically it is a moment of sudden inspiration, revelation or recollection. Researchers say that these clues may help scientists better understand the creative insight process and its impact on the brain.According to Urban Dictionary, a light bulb moment is an event when you suddenly understand something, even if 'But in this case, your brain is blocking out just the visual inputs to your right hemisphere.' 'This is like closing your eyes so you can concentrate when you are trying to solve a difficult problem,' says researcher John Kounios of Drexel University in a news release. Researchers say this 'gating' effect might occur to allow weak solution-related activity to gain momentum and then burst into consciousness as insight.

About 1.5 seconds before the moment of insight, there was an increase in lower frequency brain waves in this area of the brain, which disappeared when the high-frequency activity began. In addition, a second smaller wave of electrical activity was seen on EEG. This type of activity is associated with high-level processing of information, and researchers say it was also centered in the same right temporal lobe area. The study showed that about one-third of a second before the 'Aha!' moment, there was a sudden burst of high-frequency brain waves. In the second experiment, researchers monitored the participants' brainwave activity using an electroencephalogram (EEG) during insight and noninsight problem solving tasks. Researchers say previous studies have shown that this right temporal lobe may be important for drawing distantly related information together, which is a key component of insight. Little activity was detected in this area during noninsight solutions. Using brain imaging techniques, researchers found that activity increased in a small part of the right lobe of the brain called the temporal lobe when the participants reported experiencing creative insight during problem solving.

#DEFINE AHA MOMENT SERIES#

In the first, study participants were given a series of word problems to solve designed to evoke a distinct 'Aha!' moment about half the time they were solved. In the study, which appears in the April issue of PloS Biology, researchers compared brain activity in two different experiments. Surge of Brain Activity Accompanies 'Aha!' Moments 'We believe this is the first research showing that distinct computational and neural mechanisms lead to these breakthrough moments.' 'For thousands of years people have said that insight feels different from more straightforward problem solving,' says researcher Mark Jung-Beeman, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill. Ap- It may not appear in the shape of a light bulb above your head, but researchers say 'Aha!' moments are marked by a surge of electrical activity in the brain.Ī new study shows that solving a problem that requires creative insight prompts distinct changes in brain activity that don't occur under normal problem-solving conditions.

Define aha moment