Your 'Eureka!' moments can be seen in brain scans

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. That euphoric feeling when a great idea strikes or a challenging puzzle piece fits into place is electric–and also helps our brains. Now, a team of researchers from the United States and Germany have taken a peek inside the brain to see what those so-called aha, lightbulb, or eureka moments look like. The new brain imaging shows that these flashes of insights reshape how the brain represents information and helps burn it into our memory. According to Maxi Becker, a study co-author and cognitive neuroscientist at Humboldt University in Berlin, if you have one of these aha moments when solving a problem, "you're actually more likely to remember the solution.'" The findings are detailed in a study published May 9 in the journal Nature Communications.