Understand Habits

Recognize the routine (cue)

To understand how a habit works, consider a series of experiments conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A group of neuroscientist had implanted sensors into the brains of rats so they could observe the smallest changes within their brains. Then, they put each rat into a T-shaped maze withchocolate at one end. The maze was structured so that each animal was positioned behind abarrier that opened after a loud click. The first time a rat was placed in the maze, it would usually wander slowly up and down the center aisle after the barrier slid away, sniffing in corners and scratching at walls. It appeared to smell the chocolate, but couldn’t figure out how to find it. There was no discernible pattern in the rat’s meanderings, and no indication it was working hard to find the treat.

A Habit is Born.

The probes in the rats’ heads, however, told a different story. While each animal wandered through the maze, its brain was working furiously. Every time a rat sniffed the air or scratched a wall, the neurosensors inside the animal’s head exploded with activity. As the scientists repeated the experiment, again and again, the rats eventually stopped sniffing corners and making wrong turns and began to zip through the maze with more and more speed. And within their brains, something unexpected occurred: as each rat learned how to complete the maze more quickly, its mental activity decreased. As the path became more and more automatic—as it became a habit—the rats started thinking less and less.

Cues and Rewards.

Consider again the chocolate-seeking rats. As the animals’ ability to navigate the maze became habitual, there were only two spikes in the rats’ brain activity—once at the beginning of the maze, when the rat heard the click right before the barrier slid away, and once at the end, when the rats found the chocolate. From behind the partition, the rat wasn’t sure what waited on the other side, until it heard the click, which it had come to associate with the maze. Once it heard the click, it knew to use the ‘‘maze habit,’’ and its brain activity settled. Then at the end of the activity, when the reward appeared, it signaled to the brain that that particular habit was worth remembering, and the neurological pathway was laid that much deeper.

The Habit Loop.

This process within our brains that creates habits is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering
and storing. Over time, this loop—cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward—becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become neurologically intertwined until a sense of craving emerges—and a habit is born.

Over time, this loop—cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward—becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become neurologically intertwined until a sense of craving emerges—and a habit is born.