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Creatures of Habit: The Neuroscience of Habit and Purposeful Behavior

2019; Elsevier BV; Volume: 85; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.03.978

1873-2402

Alana I. Mendelsohn,

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Growing up, Sarah spent nearly every weekend playing soccer, yet one of her most vivid childhood memories of practicing with her team has nothing to do with sports. The practices lasted several hours and were made manageable by a much-cherished snack break. One week in spring, she grabbed her water bottle after leaving the field and ran over to the snack table, as she had countless times before. She spotted a box of doughnuts on the table, and without thinking, picked up a chocolate doughnut and took a bite. Within seconds, she recoiled in horror and embarrassment at what she had done and ran to the nearest trash can to spit it out. The Jewish holiday of Passover had started several days earlier, and she was definitely not supposed to be eating doughnuts—or, for that matter, any of the other snacks. How could she have made such a mistake? It was not that she had forgotten about the holiday or was especially hungry: the problem was that the context had changed but her brain was stuck in the same weekly routine.