Like previous handbooks, the present volume is an authoritative and
up-to-date compendium of information and perspective on the neurobiology
of ingestive behaviors. It is intended to be stimulating and informative
to the practitioner, whether neophyte or senior scholar. It is also
intended to be accessible to others who do not investigate the
biological bases of food and ?uid ingestion, who may teach aspects of
this material or simply wonder about the current state of the ?eld. To
all readers, we present this handbook as a progress report, recognizing
that the present state of the ?eld is much farther along than it was the
last time a handbook was published, but mindful of the likelihood that
it is not as far along as it will be when the next handbook is prepared.
This ?eld has witnessed a spectacular accretion of scienti?c information
since the ?rst handbook was published in 1967. During the generation of
science between then and the publication of the second handbook in 1990,
numerous scienti?c reports have substantially changed the perspective
and informational base of the ?eld.