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ERIC Number: EJ864477
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jul
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0898-929X
EISSN: N/A
Posterior Beta and Anterior Gamma Oscillations Predict Cognitive Insight
Sheth, Bhavin R.; Sandkuhler, Simone; Bhattacharya, Joydeep
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, v21 n7 p1269-1279 Jul 2009
Pioneering neuroimaging studies on insight have revealed neural correlates of the emotional "Aha!" component of the insight process, but neural substrates of the cognitive component, such as problem restructuring (a key to transformative reasoning), remain a mystery. Here, multivariate electroencephalogram signals were recorded from human participants while they solved verbal puzzles that could create a small-scale experience of cognitive insight. Individuals responded as soon as they reached a solution and provided a rating of subjective insight. For unsolved puzzles, hints were provided after 60 to 90 sec. Spatio-temporal signatures of brain oscillations were analyzed using Morlet wavelet transform followed by exploratory parallel-factor analysis. A consistent reduction in beta power (15-25 Hz) was found over the parieto-occipital and centro-temporal electrode regions on all four conditions--(a) correct (vs. incorrect) solutions, (b) solutions without (vs. with) external hint, (c) successful (vs. unsuccessful) utilization of the external hint, and d) self-reported high (vs. low) insight. Gamma band (30-70 Hz) power was increased in right fronto-central and frontal electrode regions for conditions (a) and (c). The effects occurred several (up to 8) seconds before the behavioral response. Our findings indicate that insight is represented by distinct spectral, spatial, and temporal patterns of neural activity related to presolution cognitive processes that are intrinsic to the problem itself but not exclusively to one's subjective assessment of insight.
MIT Press. Circulation Department, Five Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142. Tel: 617-253-2889; Fax: 617-577-1545; e-mail: journals-orders@mit.edu; Web site: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/jocn
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A