Hard to Break

Why Our Brains Makes Habits Stick

Russell A. Poldrack

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 May 2021

Psychology; Biology, life sciences

The neuroscience of why bad habits are so hard to break-and how evidence-based strategies can help us change our behaviour 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 behaviours.

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 behaviours 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.

By: Russell A. Poldrack
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691226415
ISBN 10: 0691226415
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 May 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Russell A. Poldrack is the Albert Ray Lang Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. He is the author of The New Mind Readers: What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Reveal about Our Thoughts (Princeton). Twitter @russpoldrack