To Know or To Think You Know

To know or to think you know: Examining insight and neurological processing in the brain

According to the American Mathematics Association (AMS) “The volume of a typical human brain is 1400 cm^3 and its weight is about 1000 times that of a typical rat's brain. Mundane facts about brain data do little to give us insight into this amazing organ.” From this vast organ, Kara D.Federmeier discusses “the activation of the right temporal lobe? is seen and analyzed through neural correlations.” The dilation of the pupil may be used as a reference, and as the pupil dilates, it is found that an insight is obtained, and the subject’s perception is changed. It is found in research conducted by Yale University that the “alpha sights affect over the visual cortex which usually occurs during a relaxing phase.” Before getting an insight, the brain blocks all visual distractions, or whatever the brain perceives to be distractions. All the best ideas may come to a person in the shower or in bed, this is because the brain excludes all visual distractions in order to obtain a coherent solution. According to the study, “in order to obtain a solution, we avert our gaze to find a solution which is the “offline mode;” an imaginative phrase which depends on more abstract problem solving.” Hence, the visual cortex is significantly more activated when an individual is looking for an analysis in contrast to placidly listening to the joke or statement. This is correlated to an insight because of the physical change in demeanor of the subject. The brain houses almost 100 times more visual neurons in the visual cortex than any other area in the brain; which is why the neural mechanisms involved in insight can be depicted in adolescents that may have difficulty in mathematics. 

Contrary to what people may believe, having insight is not an all-or-nothing process. Rather, it is a process which involves more trial and error as opposed to the “all or nothing” approach most people think it is. Insight occurs in human learning when people recognize relationships between objects or actions that can help them solve new problems. During her talk at Loyola University, Jelena Radulovic discussed how an individual is more likely to make a mistake in the last five minutes of an exam because they are unlikely to have a moment of insight. This is shown through electroencephalography (EEG) scans or positron emission tomography (PET) scans which depict the change in brain activities in students. The change in brain activity occurs because as the time for an exam concludes, the hypothalamic region of the brain is being used more in contrast to the informational processing area of the brain, the cerebral cortex. In regard to test mistakes, since the hypothalamic region is in control of releasing hormones, this may disrupt information processing as the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is involved in the body's response to both physical and emotional stress. It signals the pituitary gland to produce a hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH triggers the production of cortisol, an important stress hormone. This stress hormone may result in careless mistakes on exams. 

The results from Dr. Rudovic’s experiment also found that an individual show more progress and better results qualitatively on their exam when shown a question or an object to their left side. Therefore, the right hemisphere was more active. Dr.Radulovic focused on the crossing between the hemispheres, i.e. the left being interpreted by the right and vice versa. Seeing the problem in the left visual hemisphere allows the information to get processed by the right hemisphere in the brain. However, the time calculated was faster when shown in the right side when completing the problem. In Dr. Radulovic’s article, “Differential contributions of glutamatergic hippocampal- retrosplenial cortical projections to the formation and persistence of content memories”, she states “the subjects examined the solution in 15 seconds and then pressed a button to indicate an insight.” The right internal lobe is the key region in processing sensory information which can facilitate problem-solving (i.e., insight) which is seen through analyzing the difference in resting potential in the Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI).        

            Having this moment of insight is very difficult for individuals with a Specific Learning Difficulty (SLD) which according to the DSM-5, is common in children and may have numerous consequences in both an individual’s personal and professional life. Evidence and research from a study conducted from the American Mathematical Society (AMS)  shows that SLD is associated with impairments in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) which is involved in insight development as well. Although, SLD develops due to genetic mutations, and the role of the mutations in SLD is still unclear; SLD may be related to a lack of obtaining valid insight. SLD might be related to a lack of obtaining insight because core numerical abilities are affected. It may be so that a lack of  numerical abilities may lead one to obtain an insight at a lower threshold which is why SLD may be related to a lack of obtaining insight. The IPS is also involved in several non-numerical processes which may contribute to math skills such as pointing, grasping, and object manipulation. Therefore, the processing state and understanding state are seen as two different stages. The processing state is the time when an individual attempt to logically reason through a scenario (in this case solving the problem) and the understanding state is when the problem has registered in the brain and is fully comprehended. In research experiments conducted by AMS and Jelena Radulovic, the processing state was studied through rewards. The students with SLD solved more problems when the monetary value was stopped. According to impaired neural processing of transitive relations in children with math learning difficulty, males are more confident on their solution. The study measured moments of insight with either confidence level through physical persona or questions answered correctly. Thus, confidence was not necessarily correlated with insight unless the answer selected was correct. However, females have a higher success rate. When asked a series of questions, one was provided with a reward for answering the question correctly. It was shown again, that the males had an insight earlier than the females and were more confident in their answers. However, as the females took longer and did not obtain a direct insight their responses were more accurate and precise. This was similar to Dr.Rudulovic’s findings as the consistency in answering questions was also gender based. However, contradict the above finding that people make more mistakes in the last five minutes of testing because they are less likely to use insight. In conclusion, having this moment of insight is very difficult for individuals with Specific Learning Difficulty due to the impairments in the IPS. With respect to confidence levels of an individual when asked to solve problems, one must factor their confidence and it was found that confidence is only correlated to insight if the answer is correct. 

            One can conclude that different parts of the brain are used during cognitive tasks and when achieving an insight. Both math and insights utilize the right hemispheres and due to academic research scientists now argue that they are two different mechanisms. From both Dr. Radulovic’s paper and the study published by the American Mathematical Association finding the balance between obtaining an insight and rational problem solving is difficult to achieve. Thus, further research is needed to fully explain the true meaning of insight and what brain activity looks like when obtaining an insight.

Sources: 

1. “Alpha Wave.” Alpha Wave - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/alpha-wave.

2. “American Mathematical Society.” AMS, www.ams.org/publicoutreach/feature-column/fcarc-brain.

3. Federmeier, K.D. (2018, July). Thinking ahead: The role and roots of prediction in language comprehension. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2712632. 

4. Zhu H, Pleil KE, Urban DJ, Moy SS, Kash TL, Roth BL. 2014. Chemo genetic inactivation of ventral hippocampal glutamatergic neurons disrupts consolidation of contextual fear memory. Neuropsychopharmacology.