The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (46 page)

1.2
“Who’s Michael?”
I am indebted to the Pauly and Rayes families, as well as the Squire laboratory and coverage such as Joshua Foer, “Remember This,”
National Geographic,
November 2007, 32–57; “Don’t Forget,”
Scientific American Frontiers,
television program, produced by Chedd-Angier Production Company, PBS, episode first aired May 11, 2004, hosted by Alan Alda; “Solved: Two Controversial Brain Teasers,”
Bioworld Today,
August 1999; David E. Graham, “UCSD Scientist Unlocks Working of Human Memory,”
The San Diego Union-Tribune,
August 12, 1999.

1.3
The sample from Eugene’s spine
Richard J. Whitley and David W. Kimberlan, “Viral Encephalitis,”
Pediatrics in Review
20, no. 6 (1999): 192–98.

1.4
was seven years old
Some published papers say that H.M. was injured at age nine; others say seven.

1.5
he was hit by a bicycle
Previous research indicates that H.M. was hit by a bicycle. New documents, as yet unpublished, indicate he may have fallen off a bike.

1.6
landed hard on his head
Luke Dittrich, “The Brain That Changed Everything,”
Esquire,
October 2010.

1.7
He was smart
Eric Hargreaves, “H.M.,”
Page O’Neuroplasticity,
http://www.nyu.edu
.

1.8
When the doctor proposed cutting
Benedict Carey, “H. M., Whose Loss of Memory Made Him Unforgettable, Dies,”
The New York Times,
December 5, 2008.

1.9
with a small straw
This was a common practice at the time.

1.10
He introduced himself to his doctors
Dittrich, “The Brain That Changed Everything”; Larry R. Squire, “Memory and Brain Systems: 1969–2009,”
Journal of Neuroscience
29, no. 41 (2009): 12711–26; Larry R. Squire, “The Legacy of Patient H.M. for Neuroscience,”
Neuron
61, no. 1 (2009): 6–9.

1.11
transformed our understanding of habits’ power
Jonathan M. Reed et al., “Learning About Categories That Are Defined by Object-Like Stimuli Despite Impaired Declarative Memory,”
Behavioral Neuroscience
113 (1999): 411–19; B. J. Knowlton, J. A. Mangels, and L. R. Squire, “A Neostriatal Habit Learning System in Humans,”
Science
273 (1996): 1399–1402; P. J. Bayley, J. C. Frascino, and L. R. Squire, “Robust Habit Learning in the Absence of Awareness and Independent of the Medial Temporal Lobe,”
Nature
436 (2005): 550–53.

1.12
a golf ball–sized
B. Bendriem et al., “Quantitation of the Human Basal Ganglia with Positron Emission Tomography: A Phantom Study of the Effect of Contrast and Axial Positioning,”
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging
10, no. 2 (1991): 216–22.

1.13
an oval of cells
G. E. Alexander and M. D. Crutcher, “Functional Architecture of Basal Ganglia Circuits: Neural Substrates of Parallel Processing,”
Trends in Neurosciences
13 (1990): 266–71; André Parent and Lili-Naz Hazrati, “Functional
Anatomy of the Basal Ganglia,”
Brain Research Reviews
20 (1995): 91–127; Roger L. Albin, Anne B. Young, and John B. Penney, “The Functional Anatomy of Basal Ganglia Disorders,”
Trends in Neurosciences
12 (1989): 366–75.

1.14
diseases such as Parkinson’s
Alain Dagher and T. W. Robbins, “Personality, Addiction, Dopamine: Insights from Parkinson’s Disease,”
Neuron
61 (2009): 502–10.

1.15
to open food containers
I am indebted to the following sources for expanding my understanding of the work at the MIT labs, the basal ganglia, and its role in habits and memory: F. Gregory Ashby and John M. Ennis, “The Role of the Basal Ganglia in Category Learning,”
Psychology of Learning and Motivation
46 (2006): 1–36; F. G. Ashby, B. O. Turner, and J. C. Horvitz, “Cortical and Basal Ganglia Contributions to Habit Learning and Automaticity,”
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
14 (2010): 208–15; C. Da Cunha and M. G. Packard, “Preface: Special Issue on the Role of the Basal Ganglia in Learning and Memory,”
Behavioural Brain Research
199 (2009): 1–2; C. Da Cunha et al., “Learning Processing in the Basal Ganglia: A Mosaic of Broken Mirrors,”
Behavioural Brain Research
199 (2009): 157–70; M. Desmurget and R. S. Turner, “Motor Sequences and the Basal Ganglia: Kinematics, Not Habits,”
Journal of Neuroscience
30 (2010): 7685–90; J. J. Ebbers and N. M. Wijnberg, “Organizational Memory: From Expectations Memory to Procedural Memory,”
British Journal of Management
20 (2009): 478–90; J. A. Grahn, J. A. Parkinson, and A. M. Owen, “The Role of the Basal Ganglia in Learning and Memory: Neuropsychological Studies,”
Behavioural Brain Research
199 (2009): 53–60; Ann M. Graybiel, “The Basal Ganglia: Learning New Tricks and Loving It,”
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
15 (2005): 638–44; Ann M. Graybiel, “The Basal Ganglia and Chunking of Action Repertoires,”
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
70, nos. 1–2 (1998): 119–36; F. Gregory Ashby and V. Valentin, “Multiple Systems of Perceptual Category Learning: Theory and Cognitive Tests,” in
Handbook of Categorization in Cognitive Science
, ed
.
Henri Cohen and Claire Lefebvre (Oxford: Elsevier Science, 2005); S. N Haber and M. Johnson Gdowski, “The Basal Ganglia,” in
The Human Nervous System
, 2nd ed., ed
.
George Paxinos and Jürgen K. Mai (San Diego: Academic Press, 2004), 676–738; T. D. Barnes et al., “Activity of Striatal Neurons Reflects Dynamic Encoding and Recoding of Procedural Memories,”
Nature
437 (2005): 1158–61; M. Laubach, “Who’s on First? What’s on Second? The Time Course of Learning in Corticostriatal Systems,”
Trends in Neurosciences
28 (2005): 509–11; E. K. Miller and T. J. Buschman, “Bootstrapping Your Brain: How Interactions Between the Frontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia May Produce Organized Actions and Lofty Thoughts,” in
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
, 2nd ed., ed. Raymond P. Kesner and Joe L. Martinez (Burlington, Vt.: Academic Press, 2007), 339–54; M. G. Packard, “Role of Basal Ganglia in Habit Learning and Memory: Rats, Monkeys, and
Humans,” in
Handbook of Behavioral Neuroscience,
ed. Heinz Steiner and Kuei Y. Tseng, 561–69; D. P. Salmon and N. Butters, “Neurobiology of Skill and Habit Learning,”
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
5 (1995): 184–90; D. Shohamy et al., “Role of the Basal Ganglia in Category Learning: How Do Patients with Parkinson’s Disease Learn?”
Behavioral Neuroscience
118 (2004): 676–86; M. T. Ullman, “Is Broca’s Area Part of a Basal Ganglia Thalamocortical Circuit?”
Cortex
42 (2006): 480–85; N. M. White, “Mnemonic Functions of the Basal Ganglia,”
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
7 (1997): 164–69.

1.16
The maze was structured
Ann M. Graybiel, “Overview at Habits, Rituals, and the Evaluative Brain,”
Annual Review of Neuroscience
31 (2008): 359–87; T. D. Barnes et al., “Activity of Striatal Neurons Reflects Dynamic Encoding and Recoding of Procedural Memories,”
Nature
437 (2005): 1158–61; Ann M. Graybiel, “Network-Level Neuroplasticity in Cortico-Basal Ganglia Pathways,”
Parkinsonism and Related Disorders
10 (2004): 293–96; N. Fujii and Ann M. Graybiel, “Time-Varying Covariance of Neural Activities Recorded in Striatum and Frontal Cortex as Monkeys Perform Sequential-Saccade Tasks,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
102 (2005): 9032–37.

1.17
To see this capacity in action
The graphs in this chapter have been simplified to exhibit salient aspects. However, a full description of these studies can be found among Dr. Graybiel’s papers and lectures.

1.18
root of how habits form
Ann M. Graybiel, “The Basal Ganglia and Chunking of Action Repertoires,”
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
70 (1998): 119–36.

1.19
a habit is born
For more, see A. David Smith and J. Paul Bolam, “The Neural Network of the Basal Ganglia as Revealed by the Study of Synaptic Connections of Identified Neurones,”
Trends in Neurosciences
13 (1990): 259–65; John G. McHaffle et al., “Subcortical Loops Through the Basal Ganglia,”
Trends in Neurosciences
28 (2005): 401–7; Ann M. Graybiel, “Neurotransmitters and Neuromodulators in the Basal Ganglia,”
Trends in Neurosciences
13 (1990): 244–54; J. Yelnik, “Functional Anatomy of the Basal Ganglia,”
Movement Disorders
17 (2002): 15–21.

1.20
The problem is that your brain
For more, see Catherine A. Thorn et al., “Differential Dynamics of Activity Changes in Dorsolateral and Dorsomedial Striatal Loops During Learning,”
Neuron
66 (2010): 781–95; Ann M. Graybiel, “The Basal Ganglia: Learning New Tricks and Loving It,”
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
15 (2005): 638–44.

1.21
In each pairing, one piece
For more, see Peter J. Bayley, Jennifer C. Frascino, and Larry R. Squire, “Robust Habit Learning in the Absence of Awareness and Independent of the Medial Temporal Lobe,”
Nature
436 (2005): 550–53; J. M. Reed et al., “Learning About Categories That Are Defined by Object-Like
Stimuli Despite Impaired Declarative Memory,”
Behavioral Neuroscience
133 (1999): 411–19; B. J. Knowlton, J. A. Mangels, and L. R. Squire, “A Neostriatal Habit Learning System in Humans,”
Science
273 (1996): 1399–1402.

1.22
Squire’s experiments with Eugene
It is worth noting that Squire’s work with Pauly is not limited to habits and has also provided insights into subjects such as spatial memory and the effects of priming on the brain. For a more complete discussion of discoveries made possible by Pauly, see Squire’s home page at
http://psychiatry.ucsd.edu/faculty/lsquire.html
.

1.23
The habit was so ingrained
For discussion, see Monica R. F. Hilario et al., “Endocannabinoid Signaling Is Critical for Habit Formation,”
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
1 (2007): 6; Monica R. F. Hilario and Rui M. Costa, “High on Habits,”
Frontiers in Neuroscience
2 (2008): 208–17; A. Dickinson, “Appetitive-Aversive Interactions: Superconditioning of Fear by an Appetitive CS,”
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
29 (1977): 71–83; J. Lamarre and P. C. Holland, “Transfer of Inhibition After Serial Feature Negative Discrimination Training,”
Learning and Motivation
18 (1987): 319–42; P. C. Holland, “Differential Effects of Reinforcement of an Inhibitory Feature After Serial and Simultaneous Feature Negative Discrimination Training,”
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes
10 (1984): 461–75.

1.24
When researchers at the University of North Texas
Jennifer L. Harris, Marlene B. Schwartz, and Kelly D. Brownell, “Evaluating Fast Food Nutrition and Marketing to Youth,” Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, 2010; H. Qin and V. R. Prybutok, “Determinants of Customer-Perceived Service Quality in Fast-Food Restaurants and Their Relationship to Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions,”
The Quality Management Journal
15 (2008): 35; H. Qin and V. R. Prybutok, “Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions in Fast-Food Restaurants,”
International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences
1 (2009): 78. For more on this topic, see K. C. Berridge, “Brain Reward Systems for Food Incentives and Hedonics in Normal Appetite and Eating Disorders,” in
Appetite and Body Weight
, ed. Tim C. Kirkham and Steven J. Cooper (Burlington, Vt.: Academic Press, 2007), 91–215; K. C. Berridge et al., “The Tempted Brain Eats: Pleasure and Desire Circuits in Obesity and Eating Disorders,”
Brain Research
1350 (2010): 43–64; J. M. Dave et al., “Relationship of Attitudes Toward Fast Food and Frequency of Fast-Food Intake in Adults,”
Obesity
17 (2009): 1164–70; S. A. French et al., “Fast Food Restaurant Use Among Adolescents: Associations with Nutrient Intake, Food Choices and Behavioral and Psychosocial Variables,”
International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders
25 (2001): 1823; N. Ressler, “Rewards and Punishments, Goal-Directed Behavior and Consciousness,”
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
28 (2004): 27–39; T. J. Richards, “Fast Food, Addiction, and Market Power,”
Journal of Agricultural and Resource
Economics
32 (2007): 425–47; M. M. Torregrossa, J. J. Quinn, and J. R. Taylor, “Impulsivity, Compulsivity, and Habit: The Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex Revisited,”
Biological Psychiatry
63 (2008): 253–55; L. R. Vartanian, C. P. Herman, and B. Wansink, “Are We Aware of the External Factors That Influence Our Food Intake?”
Health Psychology
27 (2008): 533–38; T. Yamamoto and T. Shimura, “Roles of Taste in Feeding and Reward,” in
The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference
, ed. Allan I. Basbaum et al. (New York: Academic Press, 2008), 437–58; F. G. Ashby, B. O. Turner, and J. C. Horvitz, “Cortical and Basal Ganglia Contributions to Habit Learning and Automaticity,”
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
14 (2010): 208–15.

1.25
All the better for tightening
K. C. Berridge and T. E. Robinson, “Parsing Reward,”
Trends in Neurosciences
26 (2003): 507–13; Kelly D. Brownell and Katherine Battle Horgen,
Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America’s Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It
(Chicago: Contemporary Books, 2004); Karl Weber, ed.,
Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer—and What You Can Do About It
(New York: Public Affairs, 2004); Ronald D. Michman and Edward M. Mazze,
The Food Industry Wars: Marketing Triumphs and Blunders
(Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1998); M. Nestle,
Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002); D. R. Reed and A. Knaapila, “Genetics of Taste and Smell: Poisons and Pleasures,” in
Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science
, ed. Claude Bouchard (New York: Academic Press); N. Ressler, “Rewards and Punishments, Goal-Directed Behavior and Consciousness,”
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
28 (2004): 27–39; T. Yamamoto and T. Shimura, “Roles of Taste in Feeding and Reward,” in
The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference,
ed. Allan I. Basbaum et al. (New York: Academic Press, 2008), 437–58.