Loading video... Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/U. of Washington Ever get stuck trying to solve a puzzle? You look for a pattern, or a rule, and you just can't spot it. So you back up and start over. That's your brain recognizing that your current strategy isn't working, and that you need a new way to solve the problem, according to new research from the University of Washington. With the help of about 200 puzzle-takers, a computer model and functional MRI (fMRI) images, researchers have learned more about the processes of reasoning and decision-making, pinpointing the brain pathway that springs into action when problem-solving goes south.