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Habit
Broadcast starting week of December 31, 2003

Why do we do the things we do -- over and over and over again? In this show, we explore habit. Guests include Dr. Ann Graybiel, a professor of neuroanatomy in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT; Dr. Kurt Fischer, the director of the Mind, Brain & Education program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Dr. Bruce Masek, the clinical director of Child Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School; and stand-up comic Sean Conroy.

Host Dr. Fred Goodwin begins the show with an essay about his own habit of arranging and rearranging the items on his desk. He's realized that this seemingly productive task is, in fact, a bad habit because he often engages in it to distract himself from other activities. He suggests that if you have this sort of bad habit, you should step back and observe yourself. Try to reflect on what makes you perform your habit, and you might gain insight into your own personality and behavior, he suggests.

Next, standup comic Sean Conroy offers a lighthearted take on his coffee habit. Conroy performs regularly in clubs around the country. He currently appears with the longform improv group The Swarm and recently taped a television spot for NBC's Late Friday.

Dr. Goodwin's first guest is Dr. Ann Graybiel, a professor of neuroanatomy in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is regarded as a world leader in her field. In their current work, the Graybiel is studying the electrical activity of neurons in the brain as animals learn habits. She explains that her group conducts experiments in which rats and mice run T-shaped mazes, where they must decide, based on a specific sound cue, whether to turn right or left to receive a piece of chocolate. At first, when the animals are learning the maze, there is a lot of brain activity when the decision to turn is being made. Over time, as the task becomes a habit, the brain activity at the turn decreases and, instead, there is increased activity at the beginning and end of the maze. This, she says, has implications for people, too. We seem to learn habits as a "chunk" -- that is, we tend to learn a set of behaviors all together, and a trigger will stimulate us to perform the entire "chunk." For example, when a traffic light turns red, our body automatically takes the necessary steps to press the brake and slow the car down. We also might be able to create artificial triggers to stimulate good habits. For example, if you want to exercise in the mornings, it might help to put out your jogging clothes the night before, so as soon as you wake up and see them, your body is triggered to exercise.

Dr. Graybiel also discusses habits that become addictions. One theory is that there's something like a "switch" that gets activated to turn a habit into an addiction. In the case of drugs like cocaine or amphetamines, even one dose can cause dramatic changes in the brains of mice and rats. So, the "switch" may be the chemical changes that occur when the brain gets a sudden, massive "reward" from a high. Dr. Graybiel says addiction may be the dark side of what is otherwise a wonderful process -- learning habits as "chunks" helped the species evolve by freeing up our brains to do other things -- but if the habit is destructive or damaging, we are no longer well-served by automatically performing the behavior.

To contact Dr. Graybiel, write to: Dr. Ann Graybiel; E25-618; MIT; 45 Carleton St.; Cambridge, MA 02139. Or visit: http://web.mit.edu/bcs/graybiel-lab/ann_graybiel.htm.

Next, Dr. Goodwin is joined by Dr. Kurt Fischer, the director of the Mind, Brain and Education program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Fischer discusses the behavior behind things we often call "bad habits" -- smoking, drinking coffee, and so on. He said many habits are closely related to our needs and instincts, and so they often involve sex and food.

Habits can be learned in different ways. Those that are based in trauma are often learned very quickly and can be difficult to change. For example, victims of sexual abuse may engage in certain destructive habits, even in consensual sexual relationships, that they have trouble breaking. Dr. Fischer says it is often easier to try to establish new patterns, rather than attempting to break a habit completely.

Dr. Fischer then talks to a caller, Abby from New York, who is trying to break her sugar habit. Every day at around 4 p.m., Abby craves something sweet. Dr. Fischer says that in this case, too, it is better to try to replace the habit rather than try to inhibit it. Another caller, Amy from San Francisco, asks about the link between habit and superstitious and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. In her case, she often "knocks on wood," which for many people is meaningless, but she finds herself concerned that something bad will actually happen if she doesn't. Dr. Fischer said this behavior could be related to OCD, since there is anxiety driving the habit. They discuss various ways of getting distance from the habit, including self-observation -- that is, don't knock on wood, and see what happens.

To contact Dr. Fischer, write to: Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D.; Director of Mind, Brain & Education Concentration; Human Development & Psychology; Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Larsen Hall 702, Appian Way; Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. Or visit: http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~mbe.

Dr. Goodwin's final guest is Dr. Bruce Masek, the clinical director of child psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Masek says that in some children, normal habits like thumb-sucking and nail-biting can become serious problems. Most of the time, these habits go away on their own. There are, however, ways to tell if your child might need some help with behavior management: 1) if the habit is causing physical harm; for example, if the child is biting his or her cheek until it is shredded or scratching until he or she bleeds; 2) if the child is being teased excessively for his or her habit; 3) if the child is becoming concerned about his or her own habit.

In these cases, Dr. Masek first reassures parents that many children do still grow out of these habits. But if they have passed the age where their behavior is developmentally appropriate, he suggests awareness training -- the parents and child should begin to take note of when the habit is occurring, in whose presence, and how long it lasts. The next step is called Competing Response Training -- the child should come up with a habit that will replace the troubling one. For example, if the child is scratching, suggest something harmless that also uses the hands, such as locking the fingers together until the need to scratch passes. It can also help to engage in relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or visualizing a pleasant place, whether it's the beach or Disneyworld.

To contact Dr. Masek, write to: Dr. Bruce J. Masek; Massachusetts General Hospital; WAC 725 15 Parkman Street; Boston, MA 02114. Or visit: http://www.hms.harvard.edu.

Finally, commentator John Hockenberry explore his lack of habits. Try as he might, he can't bring himself to stick to a routine.

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