9. Power of Habit Chapter 1

 - In the beginning of the chapter, a man named Eugene Pauly (E.P) is introduced. E.P had a disease which affected his memory. He was unable to remember things for more than twenty minutes, and thought he was two decades younger than he actually was. However, scientists found that he was able to continue to build habits. For example, if you asked him where the food was in his kitchen, he would say he didn't remember. However, if you asked him to get something from the pantry, he would be able to do so without problems. 

- Basal ganglia is what controls habits. In rats, every time they explored a maze, the first time their brains would be working at a very high speed, but the more times they explored the maze the less brain activity there would be. The basal ganglia is central to storing habits and recalling patterns. 

- There was a past study on a man called H.M, who had seizures. A physician who wanted to help him cure the seizures proposed sucking out some of H.M's hippocampus and some surrounding tissue. His seizures slowed, but much of his memory was erased. He also couldn't retain any new information for more than twenty seconds. 

- There is a three step loop in our brains. Step one is a cue, or a trigger that tells us which habit to use. Step two is routine, whether physical, emotional, or mental, and step three is the reward which tells your brain whether or not the loop is worth remembering. 

-Habits never go away. You can form new ones, but in the right environment, the old ones will always come back because the patterns never leave your brain. 

- Habits are delicate. Even if the smallest detail changes, your brain won't remember the habit. 

- Eugene died of a massive heart attack fifteen years after losing his memory. He was able to be happy and live even without his memory.