If you’ve ever got stuck trying to solve a puzzle only to 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. 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. “There are two fundamental ways your brain can steer you through life—toward things that are good, or away from things that aren’t working out,” says Chantel Prat, associate professor of psychology and coauthor of the new study in the journal