Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2013 Sep 15;253:139-44. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.07.017. Epub 2013 Jul 13.
When confronted with a real-world problem, heuristic knowledge and experience can guide the solution of a specific technical problem as the key step toward innovation. In particular, a heuristic prototype must be used correctly to cue the technical problem that exists in a particular situation. The present study selected an innovative paradigm and scientific innovation materials to investigate the neural basis of insight induced by heuristic prototypes using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The day prior to undergoing fMRI scanning, participants were asked to solve 42 difficult technical problems that scientists might have already encountered but were unknown to the participants. In the subsequent fMRI experiment, the same participants were randomly presented with 84 prototypes classified into two types: related prototypes (RPs), which were useful for solving previously encountered problems, and unrelated prototypes (UPs), which sometimes did not contribute to problem solving. While being scanned, participants were asked to assess whether a prototype is relevant to any of the technical problems. This study comprised two conditions: solving technical problems when presented with a related heuristic prototype and failing to solve technical problems using unrelated heuristic prototypes. The authors assumed that the regions significantly activated by the RP condition, compared with the UP condition, reflected brain activity related to the role of heuristic prototypes in scientific insight. fMRI data showed that the left dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus (left DLFPC, BA9) and the left angular gyrus (left AG, BA39) were more significantly activated when presented with RPs than with UPs. The results suggest that the DLPFC may be involved in the automatic retrieval of technical problems and breaking of mental sets. Moreover, the left AG may be involved in forming novel associations between technical problems and related prototypes.
当面对现实世界的问题时，启发式知识和经验可以指导特定技术问题的解决方案，这是创新的关键步骤。特别是，必须正确使用启发式原型来提示特定情况下存在的技术问题。本研究选择了一种创新范例和科学创新材料，使用事件相关功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究启发式原型引起的顿悟的神经基础。在进行 fMRI 扫描的前一天，要求参与者解决 42 个困难的技术问题，这些问题可能是科学家已经遇到但参与者不知道的问题。在随后的 fMRI 实验中，相同的参与者随机呈现 84 个原型，分为两种类型：相关原型（RPs），有助于解决以前遇到的问题，以及不相关原型（UPs），有时对问题解决没有帮助。在扫描过程中，要求参与者评估原型是否与任何技术问题相关。本研究包括两种情况：当呈现相关启发式原型时解决技术问题，以及使用不相关启发式原型无法解决技术问题。作者假设，与 UP 条件相比，RP 条件显著激活的区域反映了启发式原型在科学顿悟中作用的大脑活动。fMRI 数据显示，当呈现 RPs 时，左侧背外侧前额叶皮层（左侧 DLFPC，BA9）和左侧角回（左侧 AG，BA39）比呈现 UPs 时更为显著地激活。结果表明，DLPFC 可能参与了技术问题的自动检索和思维定式的打破。此外，左侧 AG 可能参与了在技术问题和相关原型之间形成新的关联。
