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Hard to break : why our brains make habits stick / Russell A. Poldrack.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021]Description: xiii, 214 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780691194325
  • 0691194327
  • 9780691226415
  • 0691226415
  • 9780691241494
  • 069124149X
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part I. The habit machine : why we get stuck -- 1. What is a habit? -- 2. The brain's habit machinery -- 3. Once a habit, always a habit -- 4. The battle for me -- 5. Self-control: the greatest human strength? -- 6. Addiction: habits gone bad -- Part II. Coming unstuck : the science of behavior change -- 7. Toward a new science of behavior change -- 8. Planning for success: keys to successful behavior change -- 9. Hacking habits: new tools for behavior change.
Summary: "Well-publicized research in psychology tells us that over half of our attempts to change habitual behavior fail within one year. Even without reading the research, most of us will intuitively sense the truth in this, as we have all tried and failed to rid ourselves of one bad habit or another. The human story of habits and the difficulty of change has been told in many books - most of which will make only a quick reference to dopamine or the "lizard brain" before moving on to practical tips and tricks for behavior change. In contrast, Stuck: The Neuroscience of Why Changing Our Behavior is So Hard will tell the brain's story about why behavior is so hard to change. Russell Poldrack offers an in-depth, yet entirely accessible, guide to the neuroscientific research on habits and habit change. Part I introduces the "anatomy of a habit," starting with the argument that the resilience of our habits stems largely from a mismatch between the environment in which our brains evolved and the one in which we now live, and continuing on to introduce current work on fear and anxiety, motivation, and cognitive control that bears on habit formation. Part II focuses on what neuroscience can tell us about breaking habits, introducing evidence-based strategies that give us the best possible chance to break cycles of bad behavior. Throughout the book, Poldrack offers a clear-eyed view of what neuroscience can tell us about habit change, and what it cannot - and importantly, how we know what we know"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 152.33 P762 Available 33111011025257
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 152.33 P762 Available 33111010929772
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 152.33 P762 Available 33111009455706
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The neuroscience of why bad habits are so hard to break--and how evidence-based strategies can help us change our behavior more effectively

We all have habits we'd like to break, but for many of us it can be nearly impossible to do so. There is a good reason for this: the brain is a habit-building machine. In Hard to Break , leading neuroscientist Russell Poldrack provides an engaging and authoritative account of the science of how habits are built in the brain, why they are so hard to break, and how evidence-based strategies may help us change unwanted behaviors.

Hard to Break offers a clear-eyed tour of what neuroscience tells us about habit change and debunks "easy fixes" that aren't backed by science. It explains how dopamine is essential for building habits and how the battle between habits and intentional goal-directed behaviors reflects a competition between different brain systems. Along the way, we learn how cues trigger habits; why we should make rules, not decisions; how the stimuli of the modern world hijack the brain's habit machinery and lead to drug abuse and other addictions; and how neuroscience may one day enable us to hack our habits. Shifting from the individual to society, the book also discusses the massive habit changes that will be needed to address the biggest challenges of our time.

Moving beyond the hype to offer a deeper understanding of the biology of habits in the brain, Hard to Break reveals how we might be able to make the changes we desire--and why we should have greater empathy with ourselves and others who struggle to do so.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Well-publicized research in psychology tells us that over half of our attempts to change habitual behavior fail within one year. Even without reading the research, most of us will intuitively sense the truth in this, as we have all tried and failed to rid ourselves of one bad habit or another. The human story of habits and the difficulty of change has been told in many books - most of which will make only a quick reference to dopamine or the "lizard brain" before moving on to practical tips and tricks for behavior change. In contrast, Stuck: The Neuroscience of Why Changing Our Behavior is So Hard will tell the brain's story about why behavior is so hard to change. Russell Poldrack offers an in-depth, yet entirely accessible, guide to the neuroscientific research on habits and habit change. Part I introduces the "anatomy of a habit," starting with the argument that the resilience of our habits stems largely from a mismatch between the environment in which our brains evolved and the one in which we now live, and continuing on to introduce current work on fear and anxiety, motivation, and cognitive control that bears on habit formation. Part II focuses on what neuroscience can tell us about breaking habits, introducing evidence-based strategies that give us the best possible chance to break cycles of bad behavior. Throughout the book, Poldrack offers a clear-eyed view of what neuroscience can tell us about habit change, and what it cannot - and importantly, how we know what we know"-- Provided by publisher.

Part I. The habit machine : why we get stuck -- 1. What is a habit? -- 2. The brain's habit machinery -- 3. Once a habit, always a habit -- 4. The battle for me -- 5. Self-control: the greatest human strength? -- 6. Addiction: habits gone bad -- Part II. Coming unstuck : the science of behavior change -- 7. Toward a new science of behavior change -- 8. Planning for success: keys to successful behavior change -- 9. Hacking habits: new tools for behavior change.

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