Dr. Casey Halpern on Huberman Lab: How DBS calms compulsions

Targeted nucleus accumbens stimulation interrupts compulsion loops; capsulotomy and DBS each help only about half of refractory OCD patients.

Andrew HubermanhostDr. Casey Halpernguest

May 7, 202633mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: May 7, 2026
Duration: 33m
Channel: Huberman Lab
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

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. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/QTgU0Jx Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S&si=a1_sA7rUT-fE0OM5 Huberman Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Dr. Casey Halpern Penn Medicine Profile: https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/casey-halpern X: https://x.com/halpernc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-halpern-a1569749 Timestamps 00:00:00 Casey Halpern 00:00:20 Neurosurgery, Deep Brain Stimulation 00:04:19 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) & Treatments 00:10:11 OCD Brain Areas, Addiction 00:12:34 Nucleus Accumbens, Risk & Rewards; Binge Eating Disorder 00:16:50 Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation 00:24:33 Awareness of Cravings, Severe Binge Eating Disorder 00:28:38 Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning & Predicting Impulsive Behavior 00:32:44 Acknowledgements #hubermanlab Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

SPEAKERS

Andrew Huberman
host
Professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast.
Dr. Casey Halpern
guest
Neurosurgeon specializing in deep brain stimulation and related neuromodulation approaches for compulsive behaviors such as OCD.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Huberman Lab, featuring Andrew Huberman and Dr. Casey Halpern, Dr. Casey Halpern on Huberman Lab: How DBS calms compulsions explores deep brain stimulation reveals circuits driving compulsions, cravings, and treatment innovation Neurosurgery for psychiatric and behavioral disorders focuses on modulating specific brain circuits using deep brain stimulation (DBS) or small targeted ablations when medications and therapy fail.

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