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Meet Orexin, The Brain Chemical Behind Staying Motivated
(www.sciencealert.com)
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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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Like much neurochemistry, this information is practically useless--as pointed out in the article. Increasing Orexin does not increase motivation, though removing does decrease motivation.
The hope is that by learning what chemicals are associated with what brain states, we can chemically influence the brain into these states. But that's not how any of it works. The brain responds to the totality of the situation, and adapts in response to the environment. The neurotoxins are the result, not the cause.
Adding a chemical to the brain has the same logic as adding smoke to logs in the hope you get heat.