 Two of the most commonly noted functions of orexin peptides in the lateral hypothalamus are the promotion of feeding behavior and arousal (i.e., wakefulness).More generally, the orexinergic neural projections of the lateral hypothalamus are involved in thermoregulation, regulating gastrointestinal motility and gastrointestinal function by way of the dorsal nucleus of the vagus nerve, reducing pain and nociception through several output structures (e.g., periaqueductal gray matter), modulating the rewarding property of stimuli through the ventral tegmental area projections and other outputs in the reward system, regulating energy homeostasis and neuroendocrine functions (e.g., HPA axis, HPG axis, and HPT axis) through other hypothalamic outputs, and regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration, blood pressure, and micturition) via a group of structures in the brain stem, among other functions.The endocannabinoid system and the orexin system mediate many of the same cognitive and physical effects, and a significant overlap in their function and localization has been noted in a 2013 medical review; the receptor heterodimer produces a 100-fold amplification of the potency of the orexin receptor 1-mediated ERK pathway signaling.