> What I've Learned. Science of How OCD Works (Dealing with Brain Lock). YouTube, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkDH-H4wF4>. Accessed 16 Aug. 2021. # Science of How OCD Works (Dealing with Brain Lock) > Explanation of how an OCD afflicted brain causes irrational and unhealthy behaviors & A method for treating it. - The **orbital cortex** is responsible for detecting if you've done something correctly or not - The **cingulate gyrus** makes you feel uneasy until the mistake is corrected - The **caudate nucleus** activates when it is corrected, allowing you to shift gears - In people affected with OCD, these brain areas are hyperactive - Norman Doidge, _The Brain That Changes Itself_ - OCD people have a "sticky" caudate nucleus: correcting the mistake doesn't make the anxiousness go away - Jeffrey Schwartz, _Brain Lock_ - Effective behavioural therapy for OCD - You have to mindfully acknowledge that the urge to handwash is the result of a faulty circuit in their brain - Then you have to manually shift their gears by doing some other constructive activity for as long as you can - With consistent practice, this manual gear shifting becomes an automatic habit - Brain scans show that this therapy changes your brain response to the problematic behaviour - For normal people who just want not to have to check a second time if they locked the doors, the solution is to be mindful of it the first time