{"id":27100,"date":"2021-02-22T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=27100"},"modified":"2021-03-08T23:00:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T03:00:24","slug":"neuroscience-of-behavior-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Neuroscience of Behavior Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What do we know about the neuroscience of behavior change? What are the brain processes involved in the encoding and reinforcing of habitual behavior?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The neuroscience of behavior change studies the brain processes involved in the formation and modification of behavior patterns. In simple terms, the encoding of new behavior is underpinned by a neuroplastic\u00a0change\u00a0in the brain, which is powered by the release of the pleasure chemical dopamine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the neuroscience of behavior change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Neuroscience of Behavior Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All habits create a dopamine spike in the brain. Dopamine is a brain chemical produced when you anticipate pleasure and creates the sensation of desire. Dopamine is also released when you experience pleasure. These two experiences can be considered as <em>wanting<\/em> versus <em>liking<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The anticipation of pleasure\u2014the process of wanting\u2014is triggered when the brain notices a cue and perceives a reward. At this moment, dopamine spikes and motivates you to act. A similar thing happens when you receive a reward. When something happens that is pleasurable\u2014the act of liking\u2014dopamine spikes to indicate your satisfaction. The only difference is that <strong>the system involved in both wanting and liking is wired to be ten times stronger for wanting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Consider how much more exciting the days leading up to Christmas were than actual Christmas morning as a child.<\/li><li>Consider the butterflies felt before a date compared with how it feels to be on the date.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In relation to the neuroscience of behavior change and the stages of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habit-formation\/\">habit formation<\/a>, your body releases dopamine in the following way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Reward\u2014The first time you receive a reward, dopamine spikes, indicating your pleasure.<\/li><li>Cue and Craving\u2014When the same cue is noticed again, dopamine spikes and initiates a craving in anticipation of the reward.<\/li><li>Response\u2014The anticipation urges you to act, and dopamine remains at a neutral level.<\/li><li>Reward\u2014When you receive the reward the second time, dopamine does not spike, but stays neutral. This is because the reward was expected and the pleasure experienced less satisfying than anticipated.<ul><li>If the reward is not received, dopamine drops from the disappointment.&nbsp;<\/li><li>If the reward comes later than expected, dopamine drops from the disappointment, then spikes at the relief of finally receiving the reward again.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform example: The habit formation stages can be seen clearly in drug addiction. The phrase \u201cchasing the dragon\u201d characterizes the difference between wanting and liking. The first time the drug is used and elicits a pleasing sensation, a connection is formed between the drug and pleasure. Each time you are cued to want the same type of pleasure, you will crave the drug. Dopamine spikes in anticipation of the same high as before, but because anticipation now overrides actual pleasure, the result will be less than before. Continuing to chase this high is the essence of habit formation.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do we know about the neuroscience of behavior change? What are the brain processes involved in the encoding and reinforcing of habitual behavior? The neuroscience of behavior change studies the brain processes involved in the formation and modification of behavior patterns. In simple terms, the encoding of new behavior is underpinned by a neuroplastic\u00a0change\u00a0in the brain, which is powered by the release of the pleasure chemical dopamine. Keep reading to learn about the neuroscience of behavior change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,43],"tags":[212],"class_list":["post-27100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-self-improvement","tag-atomic-habits","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding the Neuroscience of Behavior Change - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The neuroscience of behavior change studies the brain processes involved in the formation and modification of behavior patterns. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding the Neuroscience of Behavior Change\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The neuroscience of behavior change studies the brain processes involved in the formation and modification of behavior patterns. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-22T13:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-09T03:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/brain-intelligence-mind-neuroscience.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Understanding the Neuroscience of Behavior Change\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-22T13:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-09T03:00:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/brain-intelligence-mind-neuroscience.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Atomic Habits\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding the Neuroscience of Behavior Change - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/neuroscience-of-behavior-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/brain-intelligence-mind-neuroscience.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-22T13:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-09T03:00:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"The neuroscience of behavior change studies the brain processes involved in the formation and modification of behavior patterns. 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