University of Southern California, 3715 McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2011 Dec;11(4):526-40. doi: 10.3758/s13415-011-0051-0.
In the present study, we examined whether and how brief viewing of positive and negative images influences subsequent understanding of solutions to insight problems. For each trial, participants were first presented with an insight problem and then briefly viewed a task-irrelevant positive, negative, or neutral image (660 ms), which was followed by the solution to the problem. In our behavioral study (Study 1), participants were faster to report that they understood the solutions following positive images, and were slower to report it following negative images. A subsequent fMRI study (Study 2) revealed enhanced activity in the angular gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) while viewing solutions following positive, as compared with negative, images. In addition, greater activation of the angular gyrus was associated with more rapid understanding of the solutions. These results suggest that brief viewing of positive images enhances activity in the angular gyrus and MPFC, which results in facilitation of understanding solutions to insight problems.
在本研究中，我们考察了短暂观看正性和负性图片是否以及如何影响随后对顿悟问题解决方案的理解。对于每一次试验，参与者首先呈现一个顿悟问题，然后短暂地观看一个与任务不相关的正性、负性或中性图片（660 毫秒），之后呈现问题的解决方案。在我们的行为研究（研究 1）中，参与者在观看正性图片后的解决方案后更快地报告他们理解了，而在观看负性图片后的解决方案后则更慢地报告理解了。随后的 fMRI 研究（研究 2）表明，与观看负性图片后的解决方案相比，观看正性图片后的解决方案时，角回和内侧前额叶皮层（MPFC）的活动增强。此外，角回的更大激活与更快地理解解决方案相关。这些结果表明，短暂观看正性图片增强了角回和 MPFC 的活动，从而促进了对顿悟问题解决方案的理解。
