Hunger‐driven adaptive prioritization of behavior

In order to survive, an animal must adapt its behavioral priorities to accommodate changing internal and external conditions. Hunger, a universally recognized interoceptive signal, promotes food intake though increasingly well‐understood neural circuits. Less understood, is how hunger is integrated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The FEBS journal 2022-02, Vol.289 (4), p.922-936
Main Authors: Smith, Nicholas K., Grueter, Brad A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AGRP neurons
Animal behavior
Animals
Arcuate nucleus
Behavior
Behavioral plasticity
Circuits
feeding
Feeding Behavior - physiology
Food intake
Hunger
Hunger - physiology
Hypothalamus
motivation
neural circuits
Neural networks
Neurons - metabolism
Phenotypes
Social behavior
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Summary:In order to survive, an animal must adapt its behavioral priorities to accommodate changing internal and external conditions. Hunger, a universally recognized interoceptive signal, promotes food intake though increasingly well‐understood neural circuits. Less understood, is how hunger is integrated into the neural computations that guide nonfeeding behaviors. Within the brain, agouti‐related peptide neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus have been found to powerfully stimulate feeding in addition to mediating other hunger‐driven behavioral phenotypes. In this review, we compile the behavioral plasticity downstream of hunger and present identified or potential molecular and neural circuit mechanisms. We catalogue hunger's ability to increase exploration, decrease anxiety, and alter social behavior, among other phenotypes. Finally, we suggest paths forward for understanding hunger‐driven behavioral adaptation and discuss the benefits of understanding state‐dependent modulation of neural circuits controlling behavior. Hunger triggers a pervasive shift in animal behavior, allowing adaptive prioritization of goals in order to enhance the probability of survival. Recent advances in the neuroscience of the neural circuits which communicate hunger to the brain have allowed the investigation of how hunger alters specific behavioral programs. Here, we review the behavioral plasticity engaged by hunger and discuss the circuit and molecular mechanisms underlying these phenotypes.
ISSN:1742-464X
1742-4658
DOI:10.1111/febs.15791