A review in the journal Biological Psychiatry explains how ongoing research demonstrates that the brain’s orexin system—which regulates sleep/wake states, reward systems, and mood—motivates drug-seeking behavior.
The researchers report that many drugs of abuse increase orexin production in both animal and human brains and that blocking this system reverses addiction in animals. Another study has even demonstrated that one of the three orexin-blocking sleep aids approved for insomnia treatment reduces opioid cravings in human subjects.
The review, which draws on more than a decade of publications suggests that orexin spurs drug craving and, thus, motivation to procure a drug.
Share this article
Under normal circumstances, many orexin-producing cells in the brain turn orexin production on and off in ways that raise and lower motivation. These cells turn on when, e.g., people face a tight deadline and need to get work done and turn off at night to enable sleep. However, when people become addicted to opioids, cocaine, alcohol, and other substances, these cells increase orexin production but no longer turn it off. They stay on constantly, producing high levels of orexin that motivates one behavior: getting another hit.
