Andrew Huberman with Dr. Casey Halpern
By delivering electrical signals directly to hijacked reward circuits, functional neurosurgery can instantly disrupt the overwhelming urges behind severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and binge eating.
Compulsive behaviors like hand-washing, binge eating, and drug seeking share a common neural denominator involving an urge pursued despite clear risk.
The nucleus accumbens and its connections to the prefrontal cortex act as a gatekeeper for reward-seeking behavior, which becomes malfunctioning in compulsive states.
Deep brain stimulation works by delivering targeted electrical currents to specific subcortical structures, mimicking the way a localized medication might reset a malfunctioning circuit.