Prompt Cast
The Biology of Habit Formation and Breaking: Practical Tools for Success
TLDR This episode explores the biology of habit formation and breaking, discussing the different types of habits, factors that influence habit formation, and techniques for acquiring and maintaining new habits or breaking old ones. It also covers the importance of reward prediction error, the role of dopamine, and strategies for long-term habit maintenance and habit breaking.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Today's episode is all about the biology of habit formation and breaking, as well as the neuroscience and psychology behind it, with the goal of providing practical tools for anyone to use.
06:19
There are two types of habits: immediate goal-based habits and identity-based habits, and the time it takes to form a habit can vary greatly depending on the individual and the specific behavior.
12:39
Habit formation is influenced by limbic friction, which is the amount of activation energy required to execute a new habit, and linchpin habits, which are habits that make other habits easier to perform.
18:58
Limbic friction, or the amount of activation energy required to execute a new habit, can be influenced by factors such as alertness and the context in which the habit is performed, and the goal of habit formation is to reach a state of automaticity where the habit can be performed automatically with less mental and physical effort.
25:16
Donald Hebb's work on Hebbian learning and the role of NMDA receptors in strengthening neural connections explains how habits are formed and how the brain distinguishes between thoughts and actions, and using a technique called task bracketing, which involves neural circuits in the basal ganglia, can help acquire and maintain new habits or break old ones.
31:43
Task bracketing is a neural mechanism that determines whether a habit will be context dependent or not, and it can be used to increase the likelihood of performing a particular habit by anchoring it to the state of the brain and body rather than a specific time of day.
38:17
Engaging in certain activities such as sunlight exposure, exercise, cold exposure, caffeine, fasting, and consuming foods rich in tyrosine within the first 8 hours after waking can help create a state of mind that is ideal for overcoming resistance and performing difficult habits.
45:01
During the second half of the day, it is beneficial to taper off bright light exposure, engage in activities such as meditation or self-hypnosis, and consider supplementation with ashwagandha to reduce stress levels and create a more relaxed state of mind for habit formation.
51:21
Phase three of the 24-hour schedule, which occurs from about 16 to 24 hours after waking, is crucial for allowing neuroplasticity and the rewiring of neural circuits to occur, and it requires low light, low temperature, appropriate eating schedules, and avoiding caffeine and bright light in order to support habit formation.
57:35
The placement of behaviors at specific phases of the day helps to establish a predictable sequence for the brain to consolidate and program habits, and once a habit becomes reflexive and context independent, it can be performed at different times of the day.
01:04:20
Reward prediction error governs the release of dopamine in response to expected rewards, and understanding this concept can help with habit formation and breaking habits by positively anticipating the onset and offset of the habit and rewarding oneself for the entire experience.
01:11:00
To form habits, it is helpful to associate the entire sequence of events before and after the habit with a reward, as this can positively engage the dopamine system and increase motivation.
01:17:33
After the initial 21-day period of forming new habits, the focus shifts to maintaining those habits rather than adding new ones, and the key is to assess how deeply the habits have been rewired into the nervous system and whether there is room for more habits to be added.
01:24:00
The key to breaking habits is to engage in long-term depression, a process that weakens the neural connections underlying the habit by getting the neurons involved to fire asynchronously rather than synchronously.
01:30:34
The key to breaking habits is to engage in a replacement behavior immediately after executing the bad habit, as this creates a temporal mismatch and helps dismantle the neural circuits associated with the bad habit.
01:37:03
Engaging in a new positive behavior immediately after executing a bad habit creates a cognitive and temporal mismatch, disrupting the closed loop of neural firings associated with the bad habit and allowing for intervention and rewiring of the neural circuits.
01:43:33
The podcast discusses two programs for habit formation and breaking, one involving dividing the day into three phases and the other involving a 21-day process of engaging in new habits, with more information available in the Huberman Lab newsletter.
Categories:
Health & Fitness
Science
