Bruce Bower wrote an interesting article titled “The Road To Eureka” in the March 2008 version of Science News. Over the past 100 years, observations were made to track whether certain areas in the brain lit up when a person has those “Aha” experiences. Exploring these findings could shed some insight on strategies we might be able to do to create inspired solutions to our everyday problems.
The results of the study proved fascinating. Not only did they find that there were certain patterns of activity that occurred in the brain, but there was also specific observations people went through in order to create the eureka experience. At first, participants typically experienced a state of frustration when possible options created dead-end solutions. Afterwards came a restructuring phase when participants went through a mental transition from an intense focus on unusable concepts to a broader consideration of possibilities. The interesting finding was that this transition state was only achieved when the brain was in a “resting state” of electrical activity. Many times the eureka moments came about when the participants were not even focusing on the problem or they were deliberately resting and laying focus on a few items in the situation. From there, as if by magic, certain brain centers lit up to create the eureka moment. Further studies need to be performed, however we think that applying these concepts can have profound implications on your life.
For one, we can understand that the inspiration we seek to our problems does not necessarily have to come from constant focus and attention to it. Sometimes, what you should do is allow the mind to just relax and let the brain work out its own solutions. We’re not telling you to take a physical vacation every time you are faced with challenges, but sometimes taking a mental vacation through a few minutes of meditation, a walk around to an area that inspires you or just spending time with loved ones can shift your mind to the restful state it needs to present the solutions that you are looking for. The trick is to leave the mental baggage behind and don’t take it with you when you’re taking that mental vacation.