Episode 579: Dr. Masud Husain: Motivation, Memory, and the Truth About Aging Brains

Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel · Aug 11, 2026 · 1h 8m

Is a lack of motivation a personality flaw, or a signal from your brain that something needs attention? We tend to think brain decline begins with memory loss, but changes in motivation, behavior, attention, and decision-making can show up much earlier. Apathy can look like laziness. Poor sleep can feel like memory loss. Doom scrolling gets blamed on dopamine, even though the science does not support many of the claims people repeat online. And the habits we rely on for brain health are often based more on trends than evidence. This matters because your brain is constantly deciding whether a…