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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
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Decoding Natural Behavior from Neuroethological Embedding
Published on: October 3, 2025
Toward an integrative multiscale framework of internal state and context dependent sensory coding and behavior
Utsab Majumder1, Ilona C Grunwald Kadow1
1University of Bonn, University Clinic Bonn, Institute of Physiology, Bonn, Germany.
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
|July 17, 2026
Summary
Behavioral flexibility in animals relies on integrating internal states, external contexts, and experiences. This review explores circuit mechanisms linking sensory processing and actions for adaptive decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Biology
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Animal behavior demonstrates significant adaptability, influenced by internal physiological states, environmental contexts, and past experiences.
- Understanding the neural circuits underlying this behavioral flexibility is crucial for deciphering adaptive decision-making processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent findings on the circuit mechanisms governing the interplay between sensory processing and behavior.
- To elucidate how internal states, external contexts, and actions reciprocally modulate each other.
- To propose a multiscale mechanistic framework for adaptive decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent research in neuroscience and behavioral biology.
- Analysis of studies investigating neural circuits.
- Synthesis of findings on sensory processing, internal states, and behavioral actions.
Main Results:
- Metabolic states dynamically reconfigure the valuation of sensory information, such as odors.
- Social contexts induce motivational states that alter action selection.
- Behavioral execution recursively influences sensory perception, facilitating adaptive choices.
Conclusions:
- A comprehensive understanding of adaptive behavior requires integrating internal states, external contexts, and actions.
- Neural circuits play a critical role in mediating the dynamic interactions between perception, motivation, and action.
- This framework advances mechanistic understanding of how animals make adaptive decisions in complex environments.
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