The Neuroscience Behind Your Brain's Alarm System | Ep 112

The Neuroscience Behind Your Brain's Alarm System | Ep 112

From Bossing Up: Overcoming OCD by Erin Davis

February 6, 2026 · 10 min · Episode 121

About this episode

This episode explores the neuroscience behind OCD and how the brain's alarm system contributes to the condition.

👉 YOUR BRAIN CAN CHANGE - GET HELP NOW - Retrain your brain in 3 weeks with OCD Intensives! Now we're really getting to the fun stuff. We're gonna be talking about the neuroscience behind OCD, and I love to nerd out on this stuff. It's not your fault that you have OCD—your brain is literally wired differently. In this episode, I break down exactly what's happening in your brain when OCD takes over, and why willpower alone won't work. 💜 If you've ever wondered why the urge to do compulsions feels so overwhelming and life-or-death, this episode will finally give you answers. 🎯 What You'll Discover: Your Brain's Faulty Alarm System:🔹 Why your amygdala (the size of an almond!) controls your entire stress response [01:03] 🧠🔸 How people with OCD have larger, more hyperactive amygdalas [01:03]🔹 The incredible news: through treatment, your amygdala can actually get smaller [01:03] The Three Brain Parts That Create OCD:🔸 The amygdala: Your threat detection system sounding false alarms [01:03] 🚨🔹 The orbital frontal cortex (OFC): The filter that's supposed to turn off false alarms but doesn't [03:23]🔸 The basal ganglia: The habit-forming part stuck in a "do the thing" loop…

People in this episode

Host: Erin Davis

Topics covered

  • neuroscience
  • OCD
  • brain function
  • mental health
  • neuroplasticity
  • stress response

Keywords

  • OCD
  • neuroscience
  • amygdala
  • neuroplasticity
  • compulsions
  • mental health
  • brain chemistry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OCD Intensives

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