Behavioral Consequences of a Rumbling Tummy: Fasting Alters Emotional State via the Vagus Nerve

For animals, survival is greatly enhanced by the ability to adapt to facilitate the meeting of physiological needs in an ever-changing world. These adaptations can be physiological, such as the shedding a heavy coat of fur in warm weather, or behavioral, such as snuggling up to another animal in cold weather. Such behavioral changes, brought about by sensory information from the environment, are facilitated by psychological shifts in motivation, attention, and emotional responses. In the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, Krieger et al.