The smartest way to make a decision is to "weigh" all your actions beforehand. Nevertheless, we often do this and not that, just out of habit-unless we think about it. It turns out that cocaine addicts form stronger habits than other people. Therein lies their greatest weakness and perhaps the key to healing.
Three forms of behavior
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Ivan Pavlov had already formed the doctrine of reflex arcs, which were proposed to explain all animal behavior. The reflex scheme is fundamentally simple: an animal recognizes a signal preceding some stimulus and chooses whether or not to avoid this signal. A stimulus can be anything of positive or negative value: electric shock, food, water, money. Although reflexes play a big role in our lives, they cannot explain all animal behavior (Figure 1).
Three forms of behavior
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Ivan Pavlov had already formed the doctrine of reflex arcs, which were proposed to explain all animal behavior. The reflex scheme is fundamentally simple: an animal recognizes a signal preceding some stimulus and chooses whether or not to avoid this signal. A stimulus can be anything of positive or negative value: electric shock, food, water, money. Although reflexes play a big role in our lives, they cannot explain all animal behavior (Figure 1).
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In Pavlov's reflex the signal necessarily comes from outside, but in reality the actions that precede the stimulus may take the place of the signal. A form of behavior in which an animal chooses how to act based on considerations of productivity is called goal-directed action.
Pavlovian reflexes and goal-directed actions can be intertwined in a single behavioral response. The strength of these two behaviors depends both on the frequency of the stimulus (e.g., how often a mouse receives sweetened water in response to pressing a lever) and on the strength of the stimulus (how much such water tastes better to him). As the stimulus weakens, so does the behavior it followed.
But with constant repetition of purposeful actions, habits - the third form of behavior - may emerge. Habits are relatively resistant to changes in the strength and even sign of a stimulus - their devaluation. If a laboratory mouse has developed the habit of pushing the lever to get food, then even giving it bitter food will not affect the frequency of pushing.
An interesting example of this behavior in humans is eating popcorn in movie theaters. Habitual popcorn eaters in a 2011 experiment were equally good at eating popcorn, whether it was fresh or a week old, while people without the habit of popping popcorn at the movies clearly preferred fresh popcorn. At the same time, it turned out that the habit manifested itself only in a very narrow context: to avoid automatic eating, it was enough to ask the subjects to eat only with the non-following hand.
Pavlovian reflexes and goal-directed actions can be intertwined in a single behavioral response. The strength of these two behaviors depends both on the frequency of the stimulus (e.g., how often a mouse receives sweetened water in response to pressing a lever) and on the strength of the stimulus (how much such water tastes better to him). As the stimulus weakens, so does the behavior it followed.
But with constant repetition of purposeful actions, habits - the third form of behavior - may emerge. Habits are relatively resistant to changes in the strength and even sign of a stimulus - their devaluation. If a laboratory mouse has developed the habit of pushing the lever to get food, then even giving it bitter food will not affect the frequency of pushing.
An interesting example of this behavior in humans is eating popcorn in movie theaters. Habitual popcorn eaters in a 2011 experiment were equally good at eating popcorn, whether it was fresh or a week old, while people without the habit of popping popcorn at the movies clearly preferred fresh popcorn. At the same time, it turned out that the habit manifested itself only in a very narrow context: to avoid automatic eating, it was enough to ask the subjects to eat only with the non-following hand.
Habits are surprisingly maladaptive: the situation may have changed long ago, but the habit persists, even if it is harmful. Nevertheless, habits are useful because they allow us to act without expending mental effort. The brain power freed up by automatism can be used for more important activities. For example, by acting out of habit, we can brush our teeth and think about vacation plans at the same time.
Habit and addiction
In the development of drug addiction, habit formation is of key importance. If we consider alcoholism, at the initial stage of development of this disease, a person drinks strong drinks episodically and fully enjoys the pleasurable sensations. This can be called a purposeful action, in which a person drinks consciously to feel good. But in the transition to regular drinking, a person begins to drink not for the sake of elation and relaxation, but simply out of habit.
The independence of habits from reinforcement leads to the fact that alcohol no longer brings the former joy, but this has no effect on behavior: the habit says to drink, no matter what. And finally comes a full-fledged addiction, which, unlike a habit, is much more difficult to subdue.
Habit and addiction
In the development of drug addiction, habit formation is of key importance. If we consider alcoholism, at the initial stage of development of this disease, a person drinks strong drinks episodically and fully enjoys the pleasurable sensations. This can be called a purposeful action, in which a person drinks consciously to feel good. But in the transition to regular drinking, a person begins to drink not for the sake of elation and relaxation, but simply out of habit.
The independence of habits from reinforcement leads to the fact that alcohol no longer brings the former joy, but this has no effect on behavior: the habit says to drink, no matter what. And finally comes a full-fledged addiction, which, unlike a habit, is much more difficult to subdue.
Conflict of interest
Habits and purposeful actions are supported by different brain structures. At the early stage of learning, which requires conscious effort, the caudate nucleus is extremely important, and at a later stage, during habit formation, actions are controlled by the putamen.
In the situation when a person tries to resist the habit, there is a conflict of these structures. The outcome of the confrontation is determined by the balance of excitations coming from each of them. For example, in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder the balance is strongly biased toward the putamen, so that they become slaves to their habits and may, for example, wash their hands a hundred times a day.
Habits and purposeful actions are supported by different brain structures. At the early stage of learning, which requires conscious effort, the caudate nucleus is extremely important, and at a later stage, during habit formation, actions are controlled by the putamen.
In the situation when a person tries to resist the habit, there is a conflict of these structures. The outcome of the confrontation is determined by the balance of excitations coming from each of them. For example, in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder the balance is strongly biased toward the putamen, so that they become slaves to their habits and may, for example, wash their hands a hundred times a day.
The habits of cocaine addicts
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant drug. It is the second most common illicit drug in the world after marijuana. Cocaine use increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and suppresses the immune system. But cocaine addiction is doubly dangerous because there is no drug therapy developed for it - only psychological, based on the carrot and stick method. But how effective is this method?
To find out, a group of British scientists led by Karen Hersche conducted experiments on 125 people, among whom were 72 cocaine addicts and 53 people with no experience of drug use.
In one experiment, people were asked to earn vouchers for a supermarket. To get points added to the voucher amount, subjects had to press the right button when an animal picture appeared on the monitor.
After training, the reward was devalued: pressing the right button for some pictures gave no points, but the subjects sometimes still pressed it out of habit. In this experiment, it turned out that cocaine addicts not only learned the connection between their actions and the result worse, but were also less sensitive to reward devaluation.
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant drug. It is the second most common illicit drug in the world after marijuana. Cocaine use increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and suppresses the immune system. But cocaine addiction is doubly dangerous because there is no drug therapy developed for it - only psychological, based on the carrot and stick method. But how effective is this method?
To find out, a group of British scientists led by Karen Hersche conducted experiments on 125 people, among whom were 72 cocaine addicts and 53 people with no experience of drug use.
In one experiment, people were asked to earn vouchers for a supermarket. To get points added to the voucher amount, subjects had to press the right button when an animal picture appeared on the monitor.
After training, the reward was devalued: pressing the right button for some pictures gave no points, but the subjects sometimes still pressed it out of habit. In this experiment, it turned out that cocaine addicts not only learned the connection between their actions and the result worse, but were also less sensitive to reward devaluation.
Image Explanation: An experiment to determine the strength of a habit.
A - during training, an image of an animal (stimulus) was displayed on the monitor and the participant was asked to press one of two buttons (action). When the correct button was pressed, the image of the second animal (result) was displayed and the test participant received 5 points (reward). Eventually, subjects associated the first, second pictures and the button linking them. The training consisted of 8 series of 12 trials. By the last series, it appeared that cocaine addicts pressed the correct button 10% less often.
B - In the next experiment, two outcome pictures were each displayed, one of which was crossed out. To get points, you had to press the button corresponding to the uncrossed picture (in this case, the right one). Cocaine addicts were wrong by 15% more often, which indicates a worse assimilation of the connection between their actions and the result.
C - Finally, the monitor showed all possible outcome pictures, two of which were crossed out. Then the stimulus pictures would appear and quickly replace one another, to which one had to react only if the corresponding result was not crossed out. In order to perform the task correctly, it was necessary to consciously suppress the habit of reacting to the stimulus. In this case, the subject had to react only to the picture of the elephant, but not to the picture of the SEAL. As a result, cocaine addicts reacted when they did not need to by 20% more often.
Another experiment tested the reaction of cocaine addicts to electric shocks. After the images appeared on the monitor, a discharge was applied to one of the arms, which could be avoided if one had time to press the pedal on the appropriate side. After training, the researchers told the subjects that one of the electrodes on the arms was no longer working.
The result was that cocaine addicts were 20% less likely to press the correct pedal to avoid an electric shock, even after one electrode was turned off (devaluing the stimulus). Oddly enough, longer training did not contribute to the habit of pressing the pedal even after devaluation.
A - during training, an image of an animal (stimulus) was displayed on the monitor and the participant was asked to press one of two buttons (action). When the correct button was pressed, the image of the second animal (result) was displayed and the test participant received 5 points (reward). Eventually, subjects associated the first, second pictures and the button linking them. The training consisted of 8 series of 12 trials. By the last series, it appeared that cocaine addicts pressed the correct button 10% less often.
B - In the next experiment, two outcome pictures were each displayed, one of which was crossed out. To get points, you had to press the button corresponding to the uncrossed picture (in this case, the right one). Cocaine addicts were wrong by 15% more often, which indicates a worse assimilation of the connection between their actions and the result.
C - Finally, the monitor showed all possible outcome pictures, two of which were crossed out. Then the stimulus pictures would appear and quickly replace one another, to which one had to react only if the corresponding result was not crossed out. In order to perform the task correctly, it was necessary to consciously suppress the habit of reacting to the stimulus. In this case, the subject had to react only to the picture of the elephant, but not to the picture of the SEAL. As a result, cocaine addicts reacted when they did not need to by 20% more often.
Another experiment tested the reaction of cocaine addicts to electric shocks. After the images appeared on the monitor, a discharge was applied to one of the arms, which could be avoided if one had time to press the pedal on the appropriate side. After training, the researchers told the subjects that one of the electrodes on the arms was no longer working.
The result was that cocaine addicts were 20% less likely to press the correct pedal to avoid an electric shock, even after one electrode was turned off (devaluing the stimulus). Oddly enough, longer training did not contribute to the habit of pressing the pedal even after devaluation.
Explanation of the image: experiment on avoiding a negative stimulus (electric current).
A - During a brief introduction to the setup, subjects were shown an image on a monitor (stimulus), followed by an electric shock to one of their hands (result).
B - Next, subjects were explained that a shock to the left or right hand could be prevented by pressing the corresponding pedal several times (response). Cocaine addicts managed to press the correct pedal 20% less often than the control group.
C,D - After 12 or 120 such trials, the stimulus was devalued: one of the electrodes was disconnected. Nevertheless, out of habit, the subjects continued to press the pedal, even if it was not necessary. And both groups of subjects did so equally often.
These two experiments demonstrated that in cocaine addicts purposeful actions are much easier to change into habits, and at the same time addicts learn worse under the influence of both conditioned (money) and unconditioned (current) stimuli. The authors of the study attribute this to the fact that the brains of cocaine addicts have reduced levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that mediates the observed effects. However, it is still unclear whether these behavioral characteristics are a prerequisite or only a consequence of cocaine addiction.
The results of this work also refer to another recently published paper, which also showed that addicts are much easier to form habits and much harder to give them up than people without addictions.
A - During a brief introduction to the setup, subjects were shown an image on a monitor (stimulus), followed by an electric shock to one of their hands (result).
B - Next, subjects were explained that a shock to the left or right hand could be prevented by pressing the corresponding pedal several times (response). Cocaine addicts managed to press the correct pedal 20% less often than the control group.
C,D - After 12 or 120 such trials, the stimulus was devalued: one of the electrodes was disconnected. Nevertheless, out of habit, the subjects continued to press the pedal, even if it was not necessary. And both groups of subjects did so equally often.
These two experiments demonstrated that in cocaine addicts purposeful actions are much easier to change into habits, and at the same time addicts learn worse under the influence of both conditioned (money) and unconditioned (current) stimuli. The authors of the study attribute this to the fact that the brains of cocaine addicts have reduced levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that mediates the observed effects. However, it is still unclear whether these behavioral characteristics are a prerequisite or only a consequence of cocaine addiction.
The results of this work also refer to another recently published paper, which also showed that addicts are much easier to form habits and much harder to give them up than people without addictions.
How to treat an addiction in such a case?
In order to formulate therapy for addiction, it is necessary to understand how the patient's reactions differ from those of a healthy person.
In the case of such patients, punishment is likely to be ineffective because cocaine users have a reduced response to negative stimuli. In addition, the high force of habit interferes with conscious behavioral changes. The authors suggest that in the course of therapy we should form new useful habits and prevent self-destructive behavior, which cocaine addicts are unable to resist.
In order to formulate therapy for addiction, it is necessary to understand how the patient's reactions differ from those of a healthy person.
In the case of such patients, punishment is likely to be ineffective because cocaine users have a reduced response to negative stimuli. In addition, the high force of habit interferes with conscious behavioral changes. The authors suggest that in the course of therapy we should form new useful habits and prevent self-destructive behavior, which cocaine addicts are unable to resist.