Essentials: Compulsive Behaviors & Deep Brain Stimulation | Dr. Casey Halpern
5/7/202638 min
In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Casey Halpern, MD, a professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss how deep brain stimulation and other neuromodulation approaches are being used to treat Parkinson's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), binge eating disorder and depression-related symptoms. We also explore the brain circuits that drive compulsions, cravings and impulsivity, as well as emerging non-invasive tools for predicting and treating harmful behaviors. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Rorra: https://rorra.com.huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Casey Halpern (00:00:20) Neurosurgery, Deep Brain Stimulation (00:04:19) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) & Treatments (00:10:11) Sponsor: Function (00:11:49) OCD Brain Areas, Addiction (00:14:12) Nucleus Accumbens, Risk & Rewards; Binge Eating Disorder (00:18:28) Sponsor: AG1 (00:19:46) Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (00:27:31) Sponsor: Rorra (00:28:46) Awareness of Cravings, Severe Binge Eating Disorder (00:32:51) Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning & Predicting Impulsive Behavior (00:36:57) Acknowledgements Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsAndrew Huberman· Host0:00
Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials, where we revisit past episodes for the most potent and actionable science-based tools for mental health, physical health, and performance. [upbeat music] I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. And now, for my discussion with Dr. Casey Halpern. Casey, I should say Dr. Halpern, welcome.
Casey Halpern· Guest0:23
Thank you. Great to be here.
Andrew Huberman· Host0:25
You're a neurosurgeon, which I consider the astronauts of neuroscience. For those that aren't familiar with the differences between neurosurgery, neurology, psychiatry, if you could just educate us a bit, what does a neurosurgeon do, and how do you think about and conceptualize the brain?
Casey Halpern· Guest0:40
Uh, y- the scope of neurosurgery is quite broad. We take out brain tumors. We clip aneurysms in the brain. We take care of patients that have had traumatic brain injury, um, concussion, uh, spine surgeries. 90% of what neurosurgeons do around the country, uh, you know, taking care of herniated discs and lumbar fusions. So, uh, you know, the, the scope is the entire central nervous system inclu- including the peripheral nervous system. We take care of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and nerve disorders. Historically, neurosurgeons did everything in that domain, but now we subspecialize, and I- I'm lucky to be at Penn Medicine, where we can focus on one of these areas. So I'm, uh, chief of stereotactic functional neurosurgery. All I do is deep brain stimulation surgery, and a complement to that