[The place of the gastrointestinal tract in the regulation of feeding behavior].

Abstract

The paper reviews the role of neural and humoral signals associated with the gastro-intestinal tract's activity, in organisation of motivational and emotional behaviour. The author rejects the idea of insignificance of the digestive channel's role in formation of the states of hunger and satiety. Conditioned readjustment of initiating and inhibitory afferents from mechano-, osmo- and chemoreceptors of the stomach and upper portions of the intestine, are shown to play a part in formation of general and specialised appetites according to the body needs.