Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:40:40.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Habits and Self

A Temporal View

from Part 1 - The Sensorimotor Embodiment of Habits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2020

Fausto Caruana
Affiliation:
Institute of Neuroscience (Parma), Italian National Research Council
Italo Testa
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi, Parma
Get access

Summary

We are creature of habits. This suggests an intimate relationship of self and habits. Our self provides temporal stability and continuity in a changing environment full of contingencies. Such temporal continuity is manifest in our action and, more specifically a particular subset of action, that is, habitual action or habits, as distinguished from goal-directed action. Habits can be characterized by repetitive behavior that provides temporal continuity in temporally discontinuous environmental contexts. The origin and mechanisms of temporal continuity in habits, including its relationship to the self, remain unclear though. Based on various data, we assume that the temporal continuity of self, that is, self-continuity, provides the template for the temporal continuity of habits on behavioral, psychological and neuronal levels. Specifically, we assume that temporal integration of the temporally disparate stimuli related to intention, execution and outcome of action are lumped and integrated together into one temporal unit during their processing – this results in habits. Neuronally, the data from both self and habits suggests that temporal continuity, as measured by the autocorrelation window, may be mediated by the strong power in the slower frequencies in anterior cortical regions like orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Owing to their long phase cycles, the slow frequencies are ideal for integrating and thus pooling different stimuli across time. In conclusion, we here assume an intimate relationship of self and habits in terms of temporal continuity and integration on behavioral, psychological and neuronal grounds.

Type
Chapter
Information
Habits
Pragmatist Approaches from Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and Social Theory
, pp. 58 - 78
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bai, Yu, Nakao, Takashi, Xu, Jiameng, Qin, Pengmin, Chaves, Pedro, Heinzel, Alexander, Duncan, Niall, et al. 2016. “Resting State Glutamate Predicts Elevated Pre-Stimulus Alpha during Self-Relatedness: A Combined EEG–MRS Study on ‘Rest–Self Overlap’.” Social Neuroscience 11 (3): 24963. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2015.1072582.Google Scholar
Chaudhuri, Rishidev, Knoblauch, Kenneth, Gariel, Marie-Alice, Kennedy, Henry, and Wang, Xiao-Jing. 2015. “A Large-Scale Circuit Mechanism for Hierarchical Dynamical Processing in the Primate Cortex.” Neuron 88 (2): 41931. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damiani, Stefano, Scalabrini, Andrea, Gomez-Pilar, Javier, Brondino, Natascia, and Northoff, Georg. 2019. “Increased Scale-Free Dynamics in Salience Network in Adult High-Functioning Autism.” NeuroImage: Clinical 21: 101634. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.101634.Google Scholar
D'Argembeau, Arnaud, Stawarczyk, David, Majerus, Steve, Collette, Fabienne, van der Linden, Martial, and Salmon, Eric. 2010. “Modulation of Medial Prefrontal and Inferior Parietal Cortices When Thinking about Past, Present, and Future Selves.” Social Neuroscience 5 (2): 187200. doi: 10.1080/17470910903233562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Greck, M., Rotte, M., Paus, R., Moritz, D., Thiemann, R., Proesch, U., Bruer, U., et al. 2008. “Is Our Self Based on Reward? Self-Relatedness Recruits Neural Activity in the Reward System.” NeuroImage 39 (4): 206675. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.11.006.Google Scholar
Enzi, Björn, de Greck, Moritz, Prösch, Ulrike, Tempelmann, Claus, and Northoff, Georg. 2009. “Is Our Self Nothing but Reward? Neuronal Overlap and Distinction between Reward and Personal Relevance and its Relation to Human Personality.” PLoS One 4 (12): e8429. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008429.Google Scholar
Ersner-Hershfield, Hal, Wimmer, G. Elliott, and Knutson, Brian. 2009. “Saving for the Future Self: Neural Measures of Future Self-Continuity Predict Temporal Discounting.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 4 (1): 8592. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsn042.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frings, Christian, and Wentura, Dirk. 2014. “Self-Priorization Processes in Action and Perception.” Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance 40 (5): 173740. doi: 10.1037/a0037376.Google Scholar
Gollo, Leonardo L., Zalesky, Andrew, Hutchison, R. Matthew, van den Heuvel, Martijn, and Breakspear, Michael. 2015. “Dwelling Quietly in the Rich Club: Brain Network Determinants of Slow Cortical Fluctuations.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 370 (1668): 20140165. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0165.Google Scholar
Gollo, Leonardo L., Roberts, James A., and Cocchi, Luca. 2017. “Mapping How Local Perturbations Influence Systems-Level Brain Dynamics.” NeuroImage 160 (October): 97112. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
He, Biyu J. 2013. “Spontaneous and Task-Evoked Brain Activity Negatively Interact.” Journal of Neuroscience 33 (11): 467282. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2922-12.2013.Google Scholar
He, Biyu J., and Raichle, Marcus E.. 2009. “The fMRI Signal, Slow Cortical Potential and Consciousness.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13 (7): 3029. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.04.004.Google Scholar
Himberger, Kevin D., Chien, Hsiang-Yun, and Honey, Christopher J.. 2018. “Principles of Temporal Processing across the Cortical Hierarchy.” Neuroscience 389 (October): 16174.Google Scholar
Honey, Christopher J., Thesen, Thomas, Donner, Tobias H., Silbert, Lauren J., Carlson, Chad E., Devinsky, Orrin, Doyle, Werner K., Rubin, Nava, Heeger, David J., and Hasson, Uri. 2012. “Slow Cortical Dynamics and the Accumulation of Information over Long Timescales.” Neuron 76 (2): 42334. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.08.011.Google Scholar
Hu, Chuanpeng, Di, Xin, Eickhoff, Simon B., Zhang, Mingjun, Peng, Kaiping, Guo, Hua, and Sui, Jie. 2016. “Distinct and Common Aspects of Physical and Psychological Self-Representation in the Brain: A Meta-Analysis of Self-Bias in Facial and Self-Referential Judgements.” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 61 (February): 197207. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.003.Google Scholar
Huang, Zirui, Obara, Natsuho, Davis, Henry Hap, Pokorny, Johanna, and Northoff, Georg. 2016. “The Temporal Structure of Resting-State Brain Activity in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Predicts Self-Consciousness.” Neuropsychologia 82 (February): 16170. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.01.025.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, Zirui, Zhang, Jianfeng, Longtin, André, Dumont, Grégory, Duncan, Niall W., Pokorny, Johanna, Qin, Pengmin, et al. 2017. “Is There a Nonadditive Interaction between Spontaneous and Evoked Activity? Phase-Dependence and Its Relation to the Temporal Structure of Scale-Free Brain Activity.” Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991) 27 (2): 103759. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhv288.Google Scholar
Kolvaart, Ivar, Wainio-Theberge, Soren, Wolff, Annemarie, and Northoff, Georg. Submitted. “Self and Temporal Integration – Autocorrelation Window Relates to Effects of Delay on Self-Reference”.Google Scholar
Lombardo, Michael V., and Baron-Cohen, Simon. 2010. “Unraveling the Paradox of the Autistic Self.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science 1 (3): 393403. doi: 10.1002/wcs.45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lombardo, Michael V., and Baron-Cohen, Simon. 2011. “The Role of the Self in Mindblindness in Autism.” Consciousness and Cognition 20 (1): 13040. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.09.006.Google Scholar
Lombardo, M. V., Chakrabarti, B., Bullmore, E. T., Sadek, S. A., Pasco, G., Wheelwright, S. J., Suckling, J., MRC AIMS Consortium, and Baron-Cohen, S. 2010. “Atypical Neural Self-Representation in Autism”. Brain 133(Pt 2): 61124. doi: 10.1093/brain/awp306.Google Scholar
Moeller, Scott J., and Goldstein, Rita Z.. 2014. “Impaired Self-Awareness in Human Addiction: Deficient Attribution of Personal Relevance.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 18 (12): 63541. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.09.003.Google Scholar
Murray, John D., Bernacchia, Alberto, Freedman, David J., Romo, Ranulfo, Wallis, Jonathan D., Cai, Xinying, Padoa-Schioppa, Camillo, et al. 2014. “A Hierarchy of Intrinsic Timescales across Primate Cortex.” Nature Neuroscience 17 (12): 16613. doi: 10.1038/nn.3862.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, Ryan J., Debbané, Martin, Fox, Peter T., Bzdok, Danilo, and Eickhoff, Simon B.. 2015. “Functional Connectivity Mapping of Regions Associated with Self- and Other-Processing.” Human Brain Mapping 36 (4): 130424. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22703.Google Scholar
Nakao, Takashi, Ohira, Hideki, and Northoff, Georg. 2012. “Distinction between Externally vs. Internally Guided Decision-Making: Operational Differences, Meta-Analytical Comparisons and Their Theoretical Implications.” Frontiers in Neuroscience 6: 31. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00031.Google Scholar
Nakao, Takashi, Bai, Yu, Nashiwa, Hitomi, and Northoff, Georg. 2013. “Resting-State EEG Power Predicts Conflict-Related Brain Activity in Internally Guided but Not in Externally Guided Decision-Making.” NeuroImage 66 (February): 921. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.034.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakao, Takashi, Kanayama, Noriaki, Katahira, Kentaro, Odani, Misaki, Ito, Yosuke, Hirata, Yuki, Nasuno, Reika, et al. 2016. “Post-Response by Power Predicts the Degree of Choice-Based Learning in Internally Guided Decision-Making.” Scientific Reports 6 (1): 32477. doi: 10.1038/srep32477.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg. 2011. “Self and Brain: What Is Self-Related Processing?Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15 (5): 1867. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2011.03.001.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg. 2014. Unlocking the Brain. Volume 1. Coding. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg. 2016. “Is the Self a Higher-Order or Fundamental Function of the Brain? The ‘Basis Model of Self-Specificity’ and Its Encoding by the Brain's Spontaneous Activity.” Cognitive Neuroscience 7 (1–4): 20322. doi: 10.1080/17588928.2015.1111868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Northoff, Georg. 2017a. “Personal Identity and Cortical Midline Structure (CMS): Do Temporal Features of CMS Neural Activity Transform into ‘Self-Continuity’?Psychological Inquiry 28 (2–3): 12231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Northoff, Georg. 2017b. “‘Paradox of Slow Frequencies’ – Are Slow Frequencies in Upper Cortical Layers a Neural Predisposition of the Level/State of Consciousness (NPC)?Consciousness and Cognition 54 (September): 2035. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.03.006.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg, and Bermpohl, Felix. 2004. “Cortical Midline Structures and the Self.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8 (3): 1027. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.01.004.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg, and Hayes, Dave J.. 2011. “Is Our Self Nothing but Reward?Biological Psychiatry 69 (11): 101925. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.12.014.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg, Heinzel, Alexander, de Greck, Moritz, Bermpohl, Felix, Dobrowolny, Henrik, and Panksepp, Jaak. 2006. “Self-Referential Processing in Our Brain – A Meta-Analysis of Imaging Studies on the Self.” NeuroImage 31 (1): 44057. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.12.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Northoff, Georg, Schneider, Felix, Rotte, Michael, Matthiae, Christian, Tempelmann, Claus, Wiebking, Christina, Bermpohl, Felix, et al. 2009. “Differential Parametric Modulation of Self-Relatedness and Emotions in Different Brain Regions.” Human Brain Mapping 30 (2): 36982. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20510.Google Scholar
Northoff, Georg, Wainio-Theberge, Soren, and Evers, Kathinka. 2019. “Is Temporo-Spatial Dynamics the ‘Common Currency’ of Brain and Mind? In Quest of ‘Spatiotemporal Neuroscience.’Physics of Life Reviews. May. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.05.002.Google Scholar
O'Hare, Justin, Calakos, Nicole, and Yin, Henry H.. 2018. “Recent Insights into Corticostriatal Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Habits: Invited Review for Current Opinions in Behavioral Sciences.” Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 20 (April): 406. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.10.001.Google Scholar
Pollard, Bill. 2006. “Explaining Actions with Habits.” American Philosophical Quarterly 43: 5769. doi: 10.2307/20010223.Google Scholar
Qin, Pengmin, and Northoff, Georg. 2011. “How Is Our Self Related to Midline Regions and the Default-Mode Network?NeuroImage 57 (3): 122133. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qin, Pengmin, Grimm, Simone, Duncan, Niall W., Fan, Yan, Huang, Zirui, Lane, Timothy, Weng, Xuchu, Bajbouj, Malek, and Northoff, Georg. 2016. “Spontaneous Activity in Default-Mode Network Predicts Ascription of Self-Relatedness to Stimuli.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 11 (4): 693702. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsw008.Google Scholar
Rasgon, A., Lee, W. H., Leibu, E., Laird, A., Glahn, D., Goodman, W., and Frangou, S.. 2017. “Neural Correlates of Affective and Non-Affective Cognition in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Imaging Studies.” European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists 46 (October): 2532. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.08.001.Google Scholar
Robbins, Trevor W., Vaghi, Matilde M., and Banca, Paula. 2019. “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Puzzles and Prospects.” Neuron 102 (1): 2747. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.046.Google Scholar
Schäfer, Sarah, Wentura, Dirk, and Frings, Christian. 2015. “Self-Prioritization Beyond Perception.” Experimental Psychology 62 (6): 41525. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider, F., Bermpohl, Felix, Heinzel, A., Rotte, Michael, Walter, Martin, Tempelmann, C., Wiebking, Christina, Dobrowolny, Henrik, Heinze, H. J., and Northoff, Georg. 2008. “The Resting Brain and Our Self: Self-Relatedness Modulates Resting State Neural Activity in Cortical Midline Structures.” Neuroscience 157 (1): 12031. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.08.014.Google Scholar
Smith, Kyle S., and Graybiel, Ann M.. 2016. “Habit Formation.” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 18 (1): 3343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sui, Jie, and Humphreys, Glyn W.. 2015. “The Integrative Self: How Self-Reference Integrates Perception and Memory.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19 (12): 71928. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.08.015.Google Scholar
Sui, Jie, Chechlacz, Magdalena, and Humphreys, Glyn W.. 2012a. “Dividing the Self: Distinct Neural Substrates of Task-Based and Automatic Self-Prioritization after Brain Damage.” Cognition 122 (2): 15062. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.10.008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sui, Jie, He, Xun, and Humphreys, Glyn W.. 2012b. “Perceptual Effects of Social Salience: Evidence from Self-Prioritization Effects on Perceptual Matching.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 38 (5): 110517. doi: 10.1037/a0029792.Google Scholar
Tacikowski, P., and Ehrsson, H. H.. 2016. “Preferential Processing of Self-Relevant Stimuli Occurs Mainly at the Perceptual and Conscious Stages of Information Processing.” Consciousness and Cognition 41 (April): 13949. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2016.02.013.Google Scholar
Tacikowski, Pawel, Berger, Christopher C., and Ehrsson, H. Henrik. 2017. “Dissociating the Neural Basis of Conceptual Self-Awareness from Perceptual Awareness and Unaware Self-Processing.” Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991) 27 (7): 376881. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhx004.Google Scholar
van der Meer, Lisette, Costafreda, Sergi, Aleman, André, and David, Anthony S.. 2010. “Self-Reflection and the Brain: A Theoretical Review and Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies with Implications for Schizophrenia.” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 34 (6): 93546. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.12.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, Nils-Frederic, and Northoff, Georg. 2014. “Habits: Bridging the Gap between Personhood and Personal Identity.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8 (May): 330. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00330.Google Scholar
Watanabe, Takamitsu, Rees, Geraint, and Masuda, Naoki. 2019. “Atypical Intrinsic Neural Timescale in Autism.” ELife 8 (February). doi: 10.7554/eLife.42256.Google Scholar
Wolff, Annemarie, Di Giovanni, Daniel A., Gómez-Pilar, Javier, Nakao, Takashi, Huang, Zirui, Longtin, André, and Northoff, Georg. 2019. “The Temporal Signature of Self: Temporal Measures of Resting-State EEG Predict Self-Consciousness.” Human Brain Mapping 40 (3): 789803. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wood, Wendy, Quinn, Jeffrey M., and Kashy, Deborah A.. 2002. “Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (6): 128197.Google Scholar
Yankouskaya, Alla, Bührle, Robin, Lugt, E., Stolte, Moritz, and Sui, Jie. 2018. “Intertwining Personal and Reward Relevance: Evidence from the Drift-Diffusion Model.” Psychological Research. January. doi: 10.1007/s00426-018-0979-6.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×