New research suggests that compulsive behavior may be less about willpower failure and more about inflammation quietly disrupting the brain’s reward and habit circuits. While the idea of “hidden brain ...

For years, compulsive behaviors have been viewed as bad habits stuck on autopilot. But new research in rats found the ...

A specific pattern of brain activity in a frontal brain region is linked to compulsive behaviors like excessive hand washing, chronic hair-pulling, and skin-picking in people with obsessive compulsive ...

A high-frequency brain signal in the frontal cortex is linked to OCD compulsions. Targeted deep brain stimulation rapidly reduced symptoms in severe cases.

For years, scientists have believed that compulsive behaviors happen when people become trapped in a "habit loop" that overrides self-control. But new ...

Compulsive behaviors are actions that are engaged in repeatedly and consistently, despite the fact that they are experienced as aversive or troubling. Yet treatment can help to manage or overcome ...

Is compulsive behavior common in people with Alzheimer’s or dementia? When someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, many aspects of his or her life are forced to change and will ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a brain circuit that can drive repetitive and compulsive behaviors in mice, even when natural rewards such as food or social contact are ...