A decision to eat or not to eat can be beneficial or detrimental to an organism, depending on internal and external conditions. Because feeding is essential for survival, as it replenishes energy and nutrients, in safe environments, its expression is prioritized over other behaviors. Under threat, responding to danger is a higher priority for survival and feeding is paused even in hungry states. Thus, successful expression of feeding behavior requires adaptive control that utilizes cognitive processes to dynamically assess and update internal drives and environmental changes. Recently identified key circuit components, which are important in anticipatory responding based on food memories and predictions and in resolving feeding versus threat avoidance competition, will be discussed within a connectional schema.

根据内部和外部条件，决定进食或不进食可能对有机体有利或有害。由于进食对于维持生命至关重要，因为它可以补充能量和营养，因此在安全的环境中，其表现优先于其他行为。在威胁之下，应对危险是生存的重中之重，即使在饥饿状态下也要暂停喂养。因此，成功表达进食行为需要自适应控制，该控制利用认知过程动态评估和更新内部驱动力和环境变化。在连接模式中将讨论最近确定的关键电路组件，这些电路组件在基于食物记忆和预测的预期响应中以及在解决进食与威胁避免竞争方面很重要。