http://goo.gl/LBdQ33
A new study finds people with compulsion disorders such as substance abuse, binge eating and obsessive compulsive disorder have similar patterns of decision making and brain structures.
Reporting their findings in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, the researchers explain how they discovered people affected by disorders of compulsivity tend towards automatic habitual choices than goal-directed behaviors. Plus, they also have lower grey matter volumes - which indicates fewer brain cells - in brain regions that help track goals and rewards.
Every day we make decisions, and these tend to be of two types: habitual or goal-oriented. A good example of habitual decision-making is when we are on "autopilot" as we drive the familiar route home from work. This can slip into goal-oriented behavior if we are diverted onto a less familiar road - the goal being to get back to the familiar route