Habits are patterns of activity in the brain that have become “hard wired” – they have been repeated enough times that when activated they let us get on with things without having to consciously focus attention on the activity. They allow the brain to carry on multiple tasks at the same time by reducing the energy needed for commonly occurring tasks so more energy is available to deal with less common or familiar responses. This is Nature’s way of using available brain energy efficiently…but can be troublesome when we’ve decided that a certain habit no longer serves its purpose.
The brain’s habit-forming co-ordination centre is the striatum, one of the principal components of the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is located deep within the centre of the brain and plays important roles in cognition (thinking and awareness), learning, motivation and other functions. Neural tracts connect the outer cortex with the limbic (emotional) brain through the striatum, which makes it a critical brain structure for linking movement, thoughts and rewarding experiences.
Put simply, this means that repeated actions resulting in pleasure or relief, or those that indirectly result in positive emotional responses such as avoiding failure, are processed quickly by the basal ganglia. This brain structure is directly linked to the amygdala (emotional regulation) and hippocampus (memory) via the striatum which activates dopamine, the brain chemical that causes feelings of pleasure.
Habits – or in some cases addictive patterns of behaviour – are “learned” through repetition which brings about increasing linkages between neurons in this deep part of the brain – as we know, “neurons that fire together, wire together”.
To put this into everyday experience, recall a task you had to learn from scratch, such as operating your computer or a new piece of machinery, learning a new language, or performing a work task such as giving a public presentation. Remember how it felt the very first time you tried to perform the task, especially if you were being observed. Yes, we can all recall that moment of discomfort, if not outright terror! This is the amygdala sending off an alarm signal that you are now in mortal danger, so all your senses are on alert and you might even be experiencing panic.
Now, recall the moment when you completed the task successfully, and maybe even got praise. Relief! Self-satisfaction! And along with that, perhaps a burst of positive self-talk…”I can do this!”.
Fast forward to the tenth, hundredth, thousandth time you repeated the activity …not so much dopamine now because the skill or task has become a habit, something you do now with far less effort put into attention than the first time.
Now consider what’s involved in unravelling that complex set of neural processes in your brain. Now you have to find reasons – conscious thoughts – about the reward likely to be achieved if you stop the habit, and that reward – breaking the habit – has to be more powerful and meaningful than the deeply entrenched relief you gain from doing the habit. If the reasons to stop are not substantially stronger than the reasons to not-stop, then the habit will win.
Then we must make sure that the reward (dopamine hit) from something alternative to the habit is also substantially stronger than the implicit reward gained almost instantaneously from continuing the habit.
Finally, we have to repeat the alternative to the habit many times to establish new neural pathways, literally to retrain the brain’s operating system when the cue that triggers the old habit sets it off. This is called “deep practice” and depends on being mindfully attuned to every moment the activating trigger sets off the old habit, and ready – instantly – to activate the new pattern. This is why we say, “practice makes perfect”.
Now at this point you might be despairing about ever being able to “break” habits you want to change. Don’t forget, though, that your brain has a truly remarkable capacity for learning, adapting and repairing itself. Everything you do easily today was once an unlearned set of skills that grew with repetition – and you can keep adding to your “toolbox” once you know how to drive your brain well.
Dr Kate Lemerle, Psychologist
Chrysalis Counselling & Coaching, Norfolk Island
WEB: www.chrysaliswellnessservices.com
TEL: 52112 or email drkate@iinet.net.au
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