Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 6, 2025

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
Published on: March 19, 2014
Hunger or thirst state uncertainty is resolved by outcome evaluation in medial prefrontal cortex to guide
Anne-Kathrin Eiselt1, Susu Chen1, Jim Chen1
1Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
None:
Physiological need states direct decision-making toward re-establishing homeostasis. Using a two-alternative forced choice task for mice that models elements of human decisions, we found that varying hunger and thirst states caused need-inappropriate choices, such as food seeking when thirsty. These results show limits on interoceptive knowledge of hunger and thirst states to guide decision-making. Instead, need states were identified after food and water consumption by outcome evaluation, which depended on the medial prefrontal cortex.
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