In deep brain stimulation, electrodes – the pale white lines – are implanted into a patient’s brain and connected to a battery in a person’s chest.
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Deep brain stimulation and trasncranial magnetic stimulation treat mental illness by sending electrical currents into parts of the brain. Every new patient provides researchers with a wealth of information. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Deep brain stimulation relies on thin electrodes implanted deep in the brain that deliver electrical currents.
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Rachel A. Davis, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
This rare procedure is offered by only a handful of centers in the US and around the world and should be used only when less invasive treatment options for OCD have been tried.
Many people attribute their coffee drinking to the need to feel more alert, but research shows that habit is just as big a driver behind caffeine consumption.
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Asaf Mazar, University of Pennsylvania and Wendy Wood, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Understanding and changing the environment in which habits form is a critical step when it comes to breaking unwanted behaviors and forming healthy ones.
When times are uncertain, we can fail to be flexible.
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Carey Wilson, The University of Melbourne and Thibault Renoir, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Early reports suggested an apparent increase in OCD relapse rates and symptom severity during the pandemic. But a year on, we’re learning this may not be the case.
Children and adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder should be offered extra support at school.
A pair of identical twins. The one on the right has OCD, while the one on the left does not.
Brain Imaging Research Division, Wayne State University School of Medicine
It can be very hard for people to accept that they – or their family member – are not to blame for their mental illness. Seeing the evidence in a scan can make a difference.
Just two more minutes.
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Hoarding looks weird and is often cruelly parodied on television, where shows suggest that the solution to a compulsive desire to keep stuff is simply a matter of heroically chucking it out. But for those…
People have wanted to understand our motivations, thoughts and behaviours since the ancient Greeks inscribed “know thyself” on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. And understanding the brain’s place in health…
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety-related mental condition that affects 1-2% of the population. It is severely debilitating and can strike anyone regardless of age, gender and cultural…
Professor of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Australian College of Applied Psychology and Honorary Assoc Prof with the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney