PDF Summary:The Craving Mind, by Judson Brewer

Most of us struggle with habits we'd like to break—whether it's smoking, overeating, or endlessly scrolling through social media. In The Craving Mind, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Judson Brewer explains how our brains form addictive patterns through a cycle of trigger, behavior, and reward. He shows how these habit loops exploit our brain's reward pathways, making it difficult to break free even when we want to change.

Brewer offers a solution: mindfulness. By becoming aware of our cravings and observing them without reacting, we can disrupt the connection between desire and addictive behavior. This guide explains the neuroscience behind habit formation and craving, and provides practical mindfulness techniques—like the RAIN method and cultivating curiosity—that can help you recognize your patterns and develop healthier alternatives.

(continued)...

This reward system is based on dopamine, which produces pleasant feelings. When we engage in something pleasurable, our brain releases dopamine, reinforcing the behavior and encouraging us to repeat it. Eventually, our brain begins releasing dopamine in anticipation of the reward, not just when we receive it. This anticipation creates cravings that drive us to continue the behavior, even when we know it's harmful. The more the behavior is repeated, the stronger the habit loop becomes. This is why it’s so hard to break free from addictive behaviors, even when we're motivated to do so.

Dopamine and Motivation

Berridge and Robinson argue that dopamine doesn’t actually produce pleasant feelings. Instead, it makes us want things more by making them seem more important and attention-grabbing. This means that dopamine is more about motivation than pleasure. Other brain chemicals, like opioids, are responsible for the actual feelings of pleasure. This distinction is important because it helps explain why people can crave things that don’t actually make them feel good. For example, someone with an addiction might desperately want a drug even though it no longer gives them the same high. Their dopamine system is driving the craving, while their pleasure system is no longer responding as strongly.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Craving and Habit Change

We will now examine the neurological effects of mindfulness interventions and practical applications for applying mindfulness to alter habits.

Neurological Mechanisms of Mindfulness Interventions

Mindfulness helps people recognize their biases and reactions. Brewer describes mindfulness as a capacity to focus your mind and remain in a clear, observant state. It allows us to recognize the associations we've learned, the subjective biases we have, and the resulting reactivity, giving us a clearer view of the world. If our personal biases cause us to lose our way, causing us to repeat the same steps without progress, mindfulness can make us aware of these biases and how they mislead us. Once we realize we're making no progress, we can halt, discard unneeded burdens, and change course. Mindfulness, in a metaphorical sense, acts as the map guiding us through the landscape of life.

How Does Mindfulness Work?

Brewer says that mindfulness helps us recognize our biases and reactions, but he doesn't explain how. According to Monitor and Acceptance Theory, mindfulness training strengthens a mode of attention that keeps you in a clear, observant state. This mode of attention allows you to notice your biases and reactions as they arise, rather than being swept away by them. By staying in this observant state, you can see your thoughts and feelings as mental events rather than facts, which gives you the space to choose how to respond. This is how mindfulness acts as a map, guiding you through the landscape of life by helping you navigate around your biases and reactions instead of being led by them.

Brewer also explains that mindfulness training can aid in smoking cessation and prevent relapse. It teaches people to pay attention to their habit loops, helping them become disenchanted with their previous behaviors by seeing clearly what rewards they were actually getting. Mindfulness exercises also help people handle their cues in experimental settings and daily life.

Mindfulness Training Is Less Effective for Tobacco Than for Other Substances

While mindfulness training can help people quit smoking, researchers have found that it’s less effective for some people than others. In a study of mindfulness treatment for substance misuse, researchers found that mindfulness training was less effective for people who were trying to quit tobacco than for people who were trying to quit other substances. The researchers concluded that mindfulness training is most effective when it’s integrated into a larger treatment program, rather than being offered as a stand-alone course.

Now, we will explore the neural effects of specific exercises and how mindfulness can help regulate emotions and reduce self-centeredness.

Neural Effects of Specific Practices

Brewer discusses how using real-time fMRI feedback can show how meditation influences brain function. This process lets researchers and subjects view fMRI results as they happen, offering unprecedented precision regarding space. It enables researchers to observe significant distinctions in neurological activity between new meditators and those with experience. Experienced meditators demonstrate sustained reduced activity in the PCC. The feedback enables researchers to connect participants' neural patterns with their personal experiences.

In these studies, participants practice meditation as they receive neurofeedback via real-time fMRI. They keep their eyes open, focus on their breath, and periodically look at the graph to assess the alignment between their brain activity and awareness of breathing.

The Role of the PCC in the Brain

The PCC, or posterior cingulate cortex, is a region near the back of the brain’s midline. According to neuroscientists, the PCC is one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that disturb memory. Researchers have found that the PCC is involved in a wide range of cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and self-awareness. A neuroscience review article highlights the PCC’s role in integrating information from different parts of the brain, which is crucial for complex cognitive tasks. An academic paper discusses how the PCC is part of the default mode network, a group of brain regions active when we’re not focused on the outside world. A journal article explores how disruptions in the PCC’s function are linked to various neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Mindfulness and Reward/Emotional Regulation

Brewer states that mindfulness can help regulate emotions and reduce self-focus. It enables us to understand our conditioning, personal prejudices, and reflexive responses. This allows us to release reactive, self-focused behavior and cultivate love, empathy, selfless happiness, and balance in our mindset.

Mindfulness can also assist us in navigating stress, enabling us to find direction when we feel lost. It allows us to observe the effects of our behavior and make ethical decisions accordingly. Brewer explains that meditators behave more altruistically in moral research studies, accepting more unfair offers than non-meditators. Their anterior insula, an area of the brain tied to being aware of bodily conditions and emotional responses, is less active. With less activation, they can separate negative emotional responses from their actions.

Are Meditators More Altruistic?

The economists Ernst Fehr and Urs Fischbacher argue that altruism is the willingness to sacrifice one’s own payoff to uphold fairness norms. In the context of the research Brewer cites, this would mean that meditators are behaving less altruistically, not more. In the ultimatum game, one player proposes how to split a sum of money, and the other can accept or reject the offer. If the offer is rejected, neither player gets anything. Most people reject unfair offers, sacrificing their own payoff to punish unfairness. However, meditators are more likely to accept unfair offers, prioritizing their own payoff over fairness norms.

Practical Applications & Techniques for Habit Change

Brewer suggests using mindfulness to recognize your habits and change them. Mindfulness involves curiosity and connecting with the processes occurring within our minds and bodies. It allows us to recognize what we gain from our habits, letting us determine which activities bring us joy and which ones perpetuate stress and suffering. This awareness helps us release our previous behaviors and develop new ones.

(Shortform note: To apply Brewer’s mindfulness approach to your own habits, try this: Each evening, take two minutes to write a few words about one habitual action you took that day. For example, you might note the place, time, people present, and body sensations you experienced. Treat this as raw data rather than something to fix.)

Brewer also believes that personalized resources related to mindfulness can help change habits. They provide feedback on your progress, assisting you in understanding how to employ the tools effectively.

(Shortform note: Personalized resources that show you your progress are important because we often overestimate how much we’re improving. This is especially true when it comes to mindfulness, which is a skill that’s difficult to measure.)

Next, we will look at two mindfulness-based techniques that can help disrupt desires and cultivate alternative reward systems.

Direct Techniques for Craving Disruption

Brewer asserts that mindfulness disrupts cravings by encouraging observation and acceptance. Mindfulness enables us to escape the suffering cycle by becoming aware rather than reacting impulsively. When we're conscious of an object, our identification with it diminishes. Therefore, when we recognize the physical sensations that make up a craving, we're less ensnared by the cycle of habit.

To practice mindfulness, recognize and relax into your craving. Accept its presence. Investigate your physical feelings, emotions, and mindset. Observe what's occurring each moment.

Mindfulness Isn’t for Everyone

While mindfulness can be a powerful tool for managing cravings, it may not be suitable for everyone. For some individuals, especially those with a history of trauma or unstable mental health, mindfulness practices can initially intensify distressing emotions or sensations. For example, the instruction to “recognize and relax into your craving” might lead to increased anxiety or panic in some people. Similarly, the suggestion to “accept its presence” could be misinterpreted as condoning harmful behaviors. The recommendation to “investigate your physical feelings, emotions, and mindset” might overwhelm those who are not prepared to face intense emotions.

Cultivating Alternative Reward Systems

Brewer also suggests that cultivating curiosity and joyfulness can create alternative reward systems. Joy is a selfless emotion that stems from being observant and inquisitive, and it’s always available to us. In contrast, excitement requires taking action to fulfill our wants. Curiosity is a mental state that may organically bring about focus. We can employ our systems of habit-learning through rewards to get past addiction or the exhilaration that comes from reward-based happiness.

To begin moving from excitement to engaging with joy, observe your triggers (like stress), take an action (embrace an open and curious mindset), and recognize the rewards (like joy, tranquility, and equanimity).

(Shortform note: While Brewer suggests that joy is always available to us, this may not be the case for people with severe depression. People with depression often experience anhedonia, or the inability to feel pleasure. This can make it difficult to experience joy, even when engaging in activities that used to be enjoyable. While Brewer’s approach of shifting from excitement to joy through curiosity may be helpful for some, it may not be effective for those with severe depression who are unable to access joy in this way.)