Abstract: Sudden insights are among the most captivating human experiences, characterized by the distinctive "Aha!" moment—a unique blend of surprise, positive emotion, intrinsic reward, and confidence in the solution. While traditional theories address cognitive processes in problem-solving, they often fall short of explaining both the distinctiveness of the "Aha!" experience and the improved memory retention that accompanies insights. In this talk, I propose the "insight-as-prediction-error" hypothesis as a way to bridge this gap. This framework suggests that when expectations about problem-solving outcomes diverge significantly from the actual solution, cognitive and metacognitive prediction errors are generated, resulting in feelings of surprise, reward, and confidence. On a neural level, insight arises from a rapid reorganization of solution-relevant neural representations, fostering a sudden sense of understanding. This shift is accompanied by heightened activity in hippocampus additionally contributing to the updating of prior expectations and enhancing memory retention. I will present behavioral and fMRI evidence in support of this hypothesis, offering new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the "Aha!" experience.

Webex-Link: https://fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin-en/j.php?MTID=m5db3db1a350e7baf7cfb2e5d07db5202