ABSTRACT
Motivation......................................................................................... 106 6.5. Ideas.for.Future.Animal.Research............................................................... 107 References............................................................................................................... 108
With.thousands.of.studies.published.on.topics.relevant. to.human.eating.motivation,.one.feels. immediately.daunted.by.the.prospect.of.writing.a.relatively.brief. chapter.on. the. topic..We.knew.we.would.have. to. limit. the.range.of. topics. to.be. covered..We.began.with.the.underappreciated.observation.that,.for.the.vast.majority.of.the.existence.of.our.species,.our.motivational.challenge.has.been.to.continuously.find.enough.to.eat.to.survive..Today.nearly.all.people.in.developed.countries. consume.sufficient.calories.to.maintain.health.and.functioning,.and.most.people. in.the.world.obtain.sufficient.calories.to.avoid.starvation..Although.malnutrition. remains.a.very.significant.problem.in.some.countries,.the.problem.is.of.course.not. one.of.motivation.but.of.access.to.sufficient.food..In.addition,.the.opposite.problem. —.being.motivated.to.eat.when.no.energy.deficit.exists.—.has.contributed.to.an. epidemic.of.overweight.and.obesity.that.has.arisen.almost.de.novo.during.the.past. century..Historically,.much.more.research.has.been.conducted.on.the.mechanisms. governing.the.maintenance.of.energy.balance.in.normal-weight.organisms1,2.than. on.the.mechanisms.governing.excessive.energy.consumption.and.weight.gain..For. all.these.reasons,.the.primary.focus.of.this.chapter.will.be.on.human.eating.motivation.in.times.of.plenty.
