The overconsumption of highly caloric and palatable foods has caused a surge in obesity rates in the past half century, thereby posing a healthcare challenge due to the array of comorbidities linked to heightened body fat accrual. Developing treatments to manage body weight requires a grasp of the neurobiological basis of appetite. In this Review, we discuss advances in neuroscience that have identified brain regions and neural circuits that coordinate distinct phases of eating: food procurement, food consumption, and meal termination. While pioneering work identified several hypothalamic nuclei to be involved in feeding, more recent studies have explored how neuronal populations beyond the hypothalamus, such as the mesolimbic pathway and nodes in the hindbrain, interconnect to modulate appetite. We also examine how long-term exposure to a calorically dense diet rewires feeding circuits and alters the response of motivational systems to food. Understanding how the nervous system regulates eating behaviour will bolster the development of medical strategies that will help individuals to maintain a healthy body weight.

在过去的半个世纪中，高热量和美味食物的过度消费导致肥胖率激增，从而由于一系列与体内脂肪增加相关的合并症而带来了医疗保健挑战。开发控制体重的治疗方法需要掌握食欲的神经生物学基础。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了神经科学的进展，这些进展已经确定了协调饮食不同阶段的大脑区域和神经回路：食物采购、食物消耗和进餐终止。虽然开创性工作确定了几个下丘脑核团参与进食，但最近的研究探索了下丘脑以外的神经元群（例如中边缘通路和后脑节点）如何相互连接以调节食欲。我们还研究了长期接触高热量饮食如何重新连接进食回路并改变动机系统对食物的反应。了解神经系统如何调节饮食行为将有助于医学策略的发展，帮助个人保持健康的体重。