Modafinil is a strong nootropic and a wakefulness-promoting agent widely used to treat ADD and narcolepsy. Many people regard it as the best alternative to Adderall due to its effectiveness and safety. Modafinil boosts cognition, motivation levels and helps in maintaining focus for extended periods of time.
Ritalin in the brain
Ritalin works by increasing the amount of dopamine released in the striatum, a key region in the brain related to motivation, action and cognition.
New research from cognitive neuroscientists has pinpointed how stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall can change people's motivation to complete difficult tasks.
Exercising releases dopamine in your body. Exercising makes you feel better overall and help you want to be more active. If you don't know where to start to get motivated, start by going for a run or going to the gym. Ultimately, physical activity improves ADHD and helps get rid of a lack of motivation.
This is where understanding what motivates you and your ADHD brain comes in handy because you can leverage the 4 pillars of motivation: novelty, interest, competition, and pressure, to get yourself into action.
A key factor in “wanting,” dopamine modulates neural activity when a rewarding event has occurred. Increases in dopamine reinforce the behaviors that elicited the reward and lead individuals to seek out and learn from new experiences in anticipation of a positive outcome.
Prozac (fluoxetine) and Wellbutrin (bupropion) are examples of “energizing” antidepressants; whereas Paxil (paroxetine) and Celexa (citalopram) tend to be more sedating.
The most popular ADHD medications among ADDitude readers include (in alphabetical order): Adderall XR (amphetamine) Concerta (methylphenidate) Dexedrine (amphetamine)
More Dopamine, Please
Key aspects of the reward system are underactive in ADHD brains, making it difficult to derive reward from ordinary activities. These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine.
Stimulants are the best and most common type of medication used to treat ADHD. There are only two stimulant medications, methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta and other formulations) and amphetamine (the active ingredient in Adderall, Vyvanse and other formulations).
Stimulants. Improve fatigue and concentration. These drugs include methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta).
Methylphenidate is the most commonly used medicine for ADHD. It belongs to a group of medicines called stimulants, which work by increasing activity in the brain, particularly in areas that play a part in controlling attention and behaviour.
Although both methamphetamine and cocaine increase levels of dopamine, administration of methamphetamine in animal studies leads to much higher levels of dopamine, because nerve cells respond differently to the two drugs.
In particular, oxytocin appears to impact dopaminergic activity within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, which is crucial not only for reward and motivated behavior but also for the expression of affiliative behaviors.
The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) has a crucial role in motivational control – in learning what things in the world are good and bad, and in choosing actions to gain the good things and avoid the bad things.
There are many things that motivate us. But the most powerful motivator of all is fear. Fear is a primal instinct that served us as cave dwellers and still serves us today. It keeps us alive, because if we survive a bad experience, we never forget how to avoid it in the future.
Having low levels of dopamine can make you less motivated and excited about things. It's linked to some mental illnesses including depression, schizophrenia and psychosis.
Napping, Breaks, and Memory
Taking a break helps all kids learn more, especially those with ADHD. Studies show that students remember more when they take breaks between study sessions instead of studying straight through for an extended period.