Guest Episode

September 25, 2022

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

Mental Health & Addiction

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My guest is Casey Halpern, M.D., Chief of Stereotactic and Functional 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.

Articles

Pilot study of responsive nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation for loss-of-control eating (Nature Medicine)

About this Guest

Dr. Casey Halpern

00:00:00 Dr. Casey Halpern & Disordered Eating & Brain Stimulation
00:03:18 ROKA, Eight Sleep, InsideTracker
00:07:19 Momentous Supplements
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
00:31:11 AG1 (Athletic Greens)
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

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