Neurons that fire together, wire together – and that’s exactly why it’s hard to break our habits – both positive and negative
When a trigger activates two or more neurons, they fire together and form a neural connection (Hebb’s law). Every time we repeat the trigger – be it a thought, behavior or action – the neural connection becomes stronger and faster. Over time, it becomes almost automatic.
Here are a few examples:
↳ Morning walk – alarm rings shoes on walk begins
↳ Stress snacking – deadline pressure reach for snacks
↳ High screen time – One idle moment phone scroll
The situation is not hopeless. Our brain is constantly pruning and rewiring connections. For example, by the age of 2 or 3 years, the brain forms ~100 trillion neural connections – due to the stimulation and learning things for the first time. By adulthood, the connections are trimmed to half – only retaining the ones most used.
This process continues through our entire life, our brains have synaptic plasticity.
This is the good news for breaking undesirable habits. Here are the four steps:
- Name the trigger – the exact cue like the time, action, emotion or place. For example, when the work pressure becomes intense and things feel out of control, the tendency to reach out unhealthy snacks
- Swap the routine – when the stress hits, proactively take a break and go for a 5 mins walk or sit in a quiet corner and take deep breaths for 5 mins
- Repeat relentlessly for few weeks / month – the neural connection would strengthen and become automatic
- Change your environment – don’t keep snacks at your desk. When the trigger disappears, the loop doesn’t begin
Which habit would you like to develop or break using neuroscience?
Perspectives 