Cognitive neuroscientists have introduced a fresh method to facilitate effective and enduring habit changes.
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have unveiled new findings highlighting a novel strategy to achieve and maintain habit changes effectively.
This groundbreaking approach could greatly enhance personal development techniques and the clinical management of compulsive behaviors, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction, and eating disorders.
The study was spearheaded by Dr. Eike Buabang, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Professor Claire Gillan’s lab at the School of Psychology, and has been documented in the paper titled “Leveraging cognitive neuroscience for making and breaking real-world habits,” published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Dr. Buabang states: “Habits are fundamental to our everyday routines, from preparing our morning coffee to deciding our commute route and establishing our nighttime rituals. Our findings elucidate why these automatic actions are so influential and demonstrate how we can tap into our brain’s functions to alter them. We synthesized findings from numerous laboratory and real-world studies to understand the mechanisms of habits in the human brain.”
Our habits are influenced by two brain systems: one that initiates automatic responses to familiar triggers and another that allows for goal-oriented control. For instance, mindlessly scrolling through social media when feeling bored is driven by the automatic response system, while actively putting your phone aside to prioritize work reflects the goal-directed control system.
The central issue is the imbalance between these two systems. The research indicates that such an imbalance can result in common errors, like accidentally entering an old password instead of the current one. In severe cases, Professor Gillan’s findings suggest that it can even intensify compulsive behaviors associated with conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorders, and eating disorders.
Habits manifest when automatic responses dominate over our conscious control. Both positive and negative habits emerge from this same dynamic—when automatic responses overshadow goal-oriented control. By grasping this interaction, we can leverage it to establish or eliminate habits.
The new framework outlines several elements that affect the balance between automatic responses and goal-directed control:
- Repetition and reinforcement are vital for establishing lasting habits. Engaging in a behavior repeatedly strengthens the connection between cues and responses, while rewarding the behavior increases the likelihood of its recurrence. To break habits, we can apply the same principle by substituting old behaviors with new, competing automatic responses.
- The surrounding environment is crucial for habit transformation. Modifying your environment can be helpful; making positive behaviors easier to perform encourages good habits, while eliminating triggers of undesirable behaviors disrupts bad ones.
- Effectively activating your goal-directed system can aid in either strengthening or weakening habits. Stepping back from high-effort control, such as listening to a podcast while working out, can fast-track habit formation. Conversely, stress, time constraints, and tiredness can prompt a return to old habits, thus maintaining mindfulness and intentionality is essential while working to change them.
Dr. Buabang elaborates, “Our research provides an innovative ‘playbook’ for behavior modification that connects brain science with tangible, real-world applications. We recommend effective strategies like implementation intentions, referred to as if-then plans (“if situation X arises, then I will do Y”), and incorporate clinical interventions such as exposure therapy, habit reversal therapy, contingency management, and brain stimulation. Our framework aims not only to encompass existing methods but also to highlight areas for developing new interventions.”
This study also paves the way for individualized treatment approaches based on each person’s habits formation and alteration processes, enhancing the efficacy of interventions. Professor Gillan adds, “Everyone is unique; based on your neurobiology, it might be more beneficial to concentrate on avoiding triggers rather than minimizing stress or extending your daily routine.” Furthermore, these insights could transform public health initiatives. Understanding the brain’s involvement in habit formation may assist policymakers in designing more impactful health campaigns, ranging from promoting regular exercise to curbing sugar intake.
“By aligning our strategies with the brain’s natural habit-forming tendencies, we can facilitate healthier choices on both personal and community levels.”
