This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Why do we have cravings? What causes cravings and is there a way to stop them?
The question “why do we have cravings” is asked often by people who are trying to kick a food craving. But there’s a simple answer to why we have cravings, and it has to do with the brain’s rewards system.
So why do we have cravings? Keep reading to find out.
Why Do We Have Cravings?
So why do we have cravings? The seminal work in understanding cravings was done in monkeys. The monkey was set in front of a blank computer screen. Periodically, a colored shape would appear on the screen. The monkey’s job was to press a lever when this shape appeared, and it’d get a drop of grape juice (which the monkey loved).
When measuring activity in the monkey’s dopamine neurons, a predictable pattern appeared – when the monkey got a reward (R), its brain activity spiked, indicating pleasure:
After many iterations of this loop, the monkey got really good at pulling the lever and getting the grape juice. It was good at recognizing the cue, doing the routine of pulling the lever, and getting the reward of juice.
But interestingly, over time, the monkey began anticipating the reward. The brain activity spiked when the cue appeared, well in advance of actually getting the reward:
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- The 3 steps to change your habits
- Why habits are at the root of success in football
- How social movements are just an expansion of habits from individuals to communities
