New brain-training tool to help people cut drinking
An LSE expert on happiness and behaviour has launched a free online tool to help people who want to cut down on alcohol. Professor Paul Dolan, author of the bestselling book Happiness by Design, used insights from behavioural science to create the innovative and easy-to-use tool. It uses a simple brain-training exercise, known as a 'cognitive bias modification' (CBM), to reduce any unconscious preference people may have for alcoholic drinks over non-alcoholic ones. As Professor Dolan has highlighted through his work, people often put a lot of faith in willpower to change their bad habits. The problem is willpower is unreliable, and is a poor way of controlling impulsive behaviors like alcohol-use in the long term. This brain-training exercise, however, has a proven impact in changing behaviour. A recent study shows alcoholics who undertook just four 15-minute training sessions over four days saw a reduced preference for alcohol. The treatment group also had a 13% lower ...