Human Brain. (facebook.com)
Motivational Brain Science, or Lose an Eye
By Des Ford
The button on my jeans could take out someone’s eye if I try too hard to squeeze into my favorite pair. I get puffed out doing simple activities. I’m fed up but can’t get motivated to change.
Or, I’m watching too much social media and really need to hit the books, but I just keep putting it off. Sound familiar to you in some sphere of your life? Well there’s hope.
Eran Magen at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his team say we just need to reword the self-talk we use and “waal-la”, instant willpower.
Re-wording the way we describe our intent works like magic. Here is an example of the “hidden-zero” principle. Would you prefer to receive $6.00 today or $8.50 in 46 days?
Debating this type of question activates the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a brain region associated with willpower.
Another approach is the “explicit-zero”. Would you prefer to receive $6.00 today and $0 in 46 days, or $0 today and $8.50 in 46 days?
Brain activity related to valuation and exertion of willpower were both influenced by choice framing. (A) Activity in reward-related dorsal and ventral striatum was greater for choices made in the hidden-zero than the explicit-zero frame. (B) Differences in striatal activity across framing formats correlated with individual differences in the size of the behavioral framing effect. (PNAS)
The research showed that the explicit-zero phrasing of a question was much less stressful on the brain, increasing the chance of a positive outcome. Hidden-zero folk had to work much harder to control themselves. All we need do to is figure out the questions and effective phrasing.
Well let’s help each other and post examples of “the explicit-zero” approach in comments.
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