This Is Your Brain on Sports: The Science of Underdogs, the Value of Rivalry, and What We Can Learn From the T-Shirt Cannon by L. Jon Wertheim & Sam Sommers

Author:L. Jon Wertheim & Sam Sommers
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780553447408
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Published: 2016-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Corlett’s deduction from this research is that it’s not necessarily the “runner’s high” or the neurochemistry that comes with ultrarunning that is so appealing to some people (including, it seems, those born with a predisposition to addiction, even if they themselves are not addicts). Rather, it’s the ritual—the training time, the act of preparation, the repetitive action.

Of course, Corlett’s data are from individuals who have only a family history of alcoholism. Among those who have personally gone down the paths of addiction and recovery? The allure of the ritual pursuit seems even stronger. Corlett says, “It might also be the case that [recovered addicts] have a brain that is sensitive to the possibility of any kind of a reward and that drives vigorous action toward that reward, but it isn’t necessarily as sensitive to the reward itself.” Or, in plainer terms: “Once you’ve gone through addiction, it’s easier for your brain to replace one set of habits with another set of habits.”

Which is to say, when Timothy Olson takes inventory of his inspiring transition and says, “I have an addictive personality; I got into running really good, and it became kind of that crutch,” he shows that he knows himself well. Perhaps better than he realizes.

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