The taste system has multiple neural stations that allow for modulation by internal state, providing plasticity to influence consumption.

“So you could see, or that there are multiple layers at which the taste system that guides our drive and our motivation to consume the nutrients we need has to be modulated in response to the internal state. And of course, internal state itself has to be modulated by the external world.”

“And then it goes through a number of stations where that sweet signal goes from sweet neuron to sweet neuron, to sweet neuron, to eventually get to your cortex. And once it gets to your taste cortex, that's where meaning is imposed into that signal.”