Essentials: Compulsive Behaviors & Deep Brain Stimulation | Dr. Casey Halpern

Essentials: Compulsive Behaviors & Deep Brain Stimulation | Dr. Casey Halpern

From Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

May 7, 2026 · 38 min

About this episode

Dr. Casey Halpern discusses the use of deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation in treating various compulsive behaviors and disorders.

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…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Huberman

Guest: Dr. Casey Halpern

Topics covered

  • deep brain stimulation
  • compulsive behaviors
  • neuromodulation
  • OCD treatment
  • binge eating disorder
  • brain circuits
  • predicting behavior

Keywords

  • deep brain stimulation
  • OCD
  • binge eating disorder
  • neurosurgery
  • neuromodulation
  • impulsivity
  • cravings
  • predictive tools

Sponsors

AG1, Function, Rorra

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Perelman School of Medicine

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