Dr. Casey Halpern: Biology & Treatments for Compulsive Behaviors & Binge Eating

My guest is Casey Halpern, M.D., Chief of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Halpern’s research and clinical practice focus on using deep brain stimulation to treat compulsive and movement disorders (e.g., binge eating disorders, bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Parkinson’s disease essential tremor, dystonia). We discuss using deep brain stimulation to help patients who suffer from movement and compulsive disorders and applying this treatment to patients afflicted with binge eating. We also explore applications of this technology to other conditions such as OCD, anorexia and tremor, and the future therapeutic directions of the use of non-invasive brain stimulation approaches, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and ultrasound, for the treatment of other psychiatric illnesses and conditions. This episode will interest those curious about the biology of eating, anorexia, bulimia, compulsive thoughts and behaviors, and movement. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Casey Halpern & Disordered Eating & Brain Stimulation (00:03:35) Sponsor: LMNT (00:08:28) Neurosurgeon’s View of the Brain, Neurosurgery Specialization (00:13:05) Deep Brain Stimulation & Other Unexpected Positive Effects (00:17:20) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Prescriptions & Cognitive Therapies (00:25:40) Brain Areas in OCD, Risk, Rewards & Addiction (00:29:30) Sponsor: AG1 (00:32:27) Facial and Vocal Ticks, Stimulants, Stress & Superstition (00:39:28) Nucleus Accumbens, Reward Circuits, Eating Disorders & Obesity (00:47:18) Stimulation of Nucleus Accumbens, Continuous vs. Episodic Stimulation (00:49:49) Binge Eating Disorder & Loss of Control Eating (00:53:02) Developing Binge Eating Disorder: Predisposition, Environment, Stress (01:02:07) Electrodes in Nucleus Accumbens, Identifying “Craving Cells” (01:11:41) Effects of Stimulation, Interrupting Craving, Intermediate Stimulation (01:16:46) Anorexia, Obesity & Compulsions, Potential Treatments for Anorexia (01:23:14) Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (01:32:27) MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound: Tremor, Essential Tremor & Parkinson’s (01:36:40) Future of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Epilepsy & Depression (01:41:51) Pre-Behavioral States in Compulsion & Awareness, Mood Provocation (01:48:02) Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence & Compulsion Predictions (01:53:05) Neurosurgeon Hands, Resistance Training & Deadlifts (01:59:00) “Neurosurgeon Calm,” Quality Time & Prioritization, Neurosurgeon Training (02:09:53) Daily Habits: Sleep, Exercise, Mediation (02:11:59) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn  Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience — how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.  Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states such as fear and courage. He also works on neural regeneration and directs a clinical trial to promote visual restoration in diseases that cause blindness. Huberman is also actively involved in developing tools now in use by the elite military in the U.S. and Canada, athletes, and technology industries to optimize performance in high stress environments, enhance neural plasticity, mitigate stress and optimize sleep.   Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals including Nature, Science and Cell and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover and other top media outlets.  In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 5 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.