OK, it’s May. How many of those New Year’s resolutions have you kept?
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist has found evidence in the brain for why it’s so hard to make and break habits.
Ann Graybiel, Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience at MIT is the world’s leading expert in the study of the basal ganglia, a group of nuclei in the brain interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and brainstem.
Basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions: motor control, cognition, emotions, and learning.
She explains that we live by habits. That’s good because habits and other automatic learned responses, such as driving a car, may free up the “thinking” parts of the brain for more creative purposes.
The bad news is that new habits are hard to come by, and once in place, seemingly irreversible.
No two brains are alike.
So that’s why one person can break a bad habit in a week while it may take another person a longer time, or perhaps be unable to break a habit.
(Do you think most smokers really want to smoke?)
Her research shows that basic elements of learning and habit formation are rooted in the basal ganglia. As well as the sense of accomplishment people feel when they, for example, figure out a puzzle.
This research could be insightful in understanding the nature of addictions as well as illnesses like obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.
She believes that there may be sensory tricks that break the destructive endless loops that seem to be tied to habits and, in their more severe form, addictions or psychological disorders.
Graybiel was a recipient of the 2001 National Medal of Science.
Our web site won’t help you break your bad habits but it has some puzzles that will put your basal ganglia to work.
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