Many of us have been raised to believe that if we want to get something done, we just need to set our minds to it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? Yet somehow we end up polishing off that pint of ice cream in the freezer, or spending more than our budget allows. It’s almost as if we’re not the ones in charge. This week, we talk with psychologist and neuroscientist Emily Falk about why our minds often conspire against our best interests, and how we can regain control.
Additional Resources
Book:
What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change, by Emily Falk, 2025.
Research:
Psychological Distance Intervention Reminders Reduce Alcohol Consumption Frequency in Daily Life, by Mia Jovanova et al., Scientific Reports, 2023.
A Fluid Self-Concept: How the Brain Maintains Coherence and Positivity Across an Interconnected Self-Concept While Incorporating Social Feedback, by Jacob J. Elder, Tyler H. Davis, and Brent L. Hughes, Journal of Neuroscience, 2023.
Social Networks and Neural Receptivity to Persuasive Health Messages, by Prateekshit Pandey et al., Health Psychology, 2021.
Transformative Experience and Social Connectedness Mediate the Mood-Enhancing Effects of Psychedelic Use in Naturalistic Settings, by Matthias Forstmann et al., PNAS, 2020.
Evaluating didactic and exemplar information: Noninvasive brain stimulation reveals message-processing mechanisms, by Jason C. Coronel, Matthew B. O’Donnell, Elizabeth C. Beard, Roy H. Hamilton, and Emily B. Falk, Communication Research, 2019.
Smart Food Policy for Healthy Food Labeling: Leading with Taste, Not Healthiness, to Shift Consumption and Enjoyment of Healthy Foods, by Bradley P. Turnwald and Alia J. Crum, Preventive Medicine, 2019.
Purpose in Life and Conflict-Related Neural Responses During Health Decision-Making, by Yoona Kang, Victor J. Strecher, Eric Kim, and Emily B. Falk, Health Psychology, 2019.
Effects of Self-Transcendence on Neural Responses to Persuasive Messages and Health Behavior Change, by Yoona Kang et al. PNAS, 2018.
Self-Affirmation Alters the Brain’s Response to Health Messages and Subsequent Behavior Change, by Emily B. Falk et al., PNAS, 2015.
The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms, by P. Wesley Schultz et al., Psychological Science, 2007.
Podcast:
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Newsletter:
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