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Cited by 425

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 19 of the 19 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight

Kounios, John, Beeman, Mark·2009·Current Directions in Psychological Science

Abstract

A sudden comprehension that solves a problem, reinterprets a situation, explains a joke, or resolves an ambiguous percept is called an insight (i.e., the “Aha! moment”). Psychologists have studied insight using behavioral methods for nearly a century. Recently, the tools of cognitive neuroscience have been applied to this phenomenon. A series of studies have used electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural correlates of the “Aha! moment” and its antecedents. Although the experience of insight is sudden and can seem disconnected from the immediately preceding thought, these studies show that insight is the culmination of a series of brain states and processes operating at different time scales. Elucidation of these precursors suggests interventional opportunities for the facilitation of insight.

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Metadata

Authors
Kounios, J., & Beeman, M.
Venue
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Published
2009-08
Volume
18
Issue
4
Pages
210-216
ISSN
  • 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-8721
OpenAlex
W2121406983
Cited by
425
References
19
FWCI
22.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01638.x
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Kounios, J., & Beeman, M. (2009). The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01638.x

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