Neural Basis of Scientific Innovation Induced by Heuristic Prototype

Abstract

A number of major inventions in history have been based on bionic imitation. Heuristics, by applying biological systems to the creation of artificial devices and machines, might be one of the most critical processes in scientific innovation. In particular, prototype heuristics propositions that innovation may engage automatic activation of a prototype such as a biological system to form novel associations between a prototype's function and problem-solving. We speculated that the cortical dissociation between the automatic activation and forming novel associations in innovation is critical point to heuristic creativity. In the present study, novel and old scientific innovations (NSI and OSI) were selected as experimental materials in using learning-testing paradigm to explore the neural basis of scientific innovation induced by heuristic prototype. College students were required to resolve NSI problems (to which they did not know the answers) and OSI problems (to which they knew the answers). From two fMRI experiments, our results showed that the subjects could resolve NSI when provided with heuristic prototypes. In Experiment 1, it was found that the lingual gyrus (LG; BA18) might be related to prototype heuristics in college students resolving NSI after learning a relative prototype. In Experiment 2, the LG (BA18) and precuneus (BA31) were significantly activated for NSI compared to OSI when college students learned all prototypes one day before the test. In addition, the mean beta-values of these brain regions of NSI were all correlated with the behavior accuracy of NSI. As our hypothesis indicated, the findings suggested that the LG might be involved in forming novel associations using heuristic information, while the precuneus might be involved in the automatic activation of heuristic prototype during scientific innovation.

Hippocampus and amygdala: An insight-related network involved in metaphorical solution to mental distress problem

“…However, this region has received scant attention in past research. As increased activity in the lingual gyrus has been observed using an insight task with heuristic prototypes, it has been suggested that it might be involved in forming novel associations using heuristic information (Luo et al, 2013).…”

Real World Problem-Solving

“…As noted earlier, Archimedes realized the relationship between the volume of an irregularly shaped object and the volume of water it displaced. This is an example of heuristic prototyping where the problem-solver notices an event in the environment, which then triggers the automatic activation of a heuristic prototype and the formation of novel associations (between the function of the prototype and the problem) which they can then use to solve the problem (Luo et al, 2013 ). Although still in its relative infancy, there has been some recent research into the neural basis for heuristic prototyping.…”

Default Mode and Executive Networks Areas: Association with the Serial Order in Divergent Thinking

“…Scientific findings [ 1 – 3 ] have suggested a two-fold structure of the cognitive processes that includes heuristic and explicit components. By using the heuristic thinking mode, people automatically process information that tends to be invariant across days [ 2 ].…”

“…This mode allows an individual to behave according to a conventional habit, which includes the typical practical and mental actions of everyday work [ 4 ]. In contrast, the explicit thinking mode supports an individual’s creativity by changing existing mental models and building new ones [ 3 ]. There appears to be a tradeoff between the tendency to employ a previously learned heuristic mode and the ability to adopt an explicit mode [ 1 , 5 ].…”