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MOTOR CONTROL

To break a habit, timing’s everything

Nature Human Behaviour volume 3, pages 1244–1245 (2019)Cite this article

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When angry, we are often advised to ‘hold your breath and count to ten’ to prevent a rash response. Could a similar time conflict underlie the expression of unwanted habits? A new study in Nature Human Behaviour shows that habits can be provoked with greater time pressure, but are overridden if an individual is given sufficient time to prepare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Integrative Physiology and Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Robert J. Courter & Alaa A. Ahmed

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  1. Robert J. Courter
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  2. Alaa A. Ahmed
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Correspondence to Alaa A. Ahmed.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Courter, R.J., Ahmed, A.A. To break a habit, timing’s everything. Nat Hum Behav 3, 1244–1245 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0744-x

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