The Neuroscience of Habits

Hello everyone, it's Karen here. Did you know that 40% of the things you do in a day aren't decision-based? They are habits. Some habits are not so great for us, but we continue to do them anyway. Why is that? Part of the answer lies in the way our brain is made. 

You have something called a prefrontal cortex - the brain region responsible for planning, decision-making and rational thought. When faced with a choice, this part of your brain tries to operate on a logical basis, working through all the pros and cons of making that particular choice. But you also have an orbitofrontal cortex - the brain region responsible for emotion and reward in decision-making. When making that same choice, this part of the brain teases you with thoughts about how awesome that choice will feel in the moment. The problem many of us face is that we try to base decisions solely on logic and reason, and ignore the immediate rewards of a behavior. We have to do both. 

So how can these two parts of the brain reconcile with each other to help you make better choices and build healthier habits? The answer is simple, yet difficult. You have to bring awareness to your choices. For example, maybe eating ice cream at the moment would satisfy your taste buds and give you a quick burst of energy. But afterward you may feel kinda icky, both physically and emotionally. Eventually, you realize that forgoing the ice cream may not be all bad. You are teaching the orbitofrontal cortex that there are rewards associated with NOT eating the ice cream. Note: Of course eating ice cream simply for pleasure can be justified, but it needs to be considered along with the other needs and wants of your body.

Many of us can think through the pros and cons of a choice before we make it, especially if it is something we have done frequently in the past. But sometimes you just have to make the choice and live through it (with awareness) to experience the pros and cons for yourself. A repeated effort to achieve this awareness is eventually what allows you to leverage logic, emotion and rewards to make choices you feel good about.