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Neuroethological Studies of Associative Learning in Feeding Control Systems

  • Conference paper
Neuroethology and Behavioral Physiology

Abstract

The neural control systems for feeding behavior typically contain a neural microprocessor which directs the initial appetitive phase of locating and evaluating potential sources of metabolic energy. A number of the subroutines called up during this appetitive phase are modifiable based on the animal’s previous experience. Learning about the location of food patches or the times of day when foraging in a particular food patch will yield optimal energetic return are examples of modifiable subroutines. Another example, which is particularly well suited to ethological and neurophysiological analysis, is the subroutine for evaluating novel foods, using post-ingestional consequences of the initial meal to bias the probability of ingestion on subsequent encounters. An exceedingly rich literature documents the operation of this particular learning mechanism among all classes of vertebrates (Seligman and Hager 1972, Garcia et al. 1983). Recent work with several insect and molluscan systems indicates that the food evaluation subroutine within the neural control system for feeding may yield particularly robust learning under conditions where a variety of biophysical and biochemical tools can be brought to bear.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, 07974, USA

    Alan Gelperin

  2. Department of Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Alan Gelperin

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  1. Alan Gelperin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-8131, Seewiesen/Starnberg, F.R. Germany

    Franz Huber

  2. Fakultät für Biologie, Universität Konstanz, Postfach 5560, D-7750, Konstanz, F.R. Germany

    Hubert Markl

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gelperin, A. (1983). Neuroethological Studies of Associative Learning in Feeding Control Systems. In: Huber, F., Markl, H. (eds) Neuroethology and Behavioral Physiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69271-0_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69271-0_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-69273-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-69271-0

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