Which areas decide what you eat when you are hungry and a pastry is on offer? · Grey Matter

The hypothalamus supplies the need: it senses low energy through hormones and nutrients in the blood and makes food more wanted.

Which areas decide what you eat when you are hungry and a pastry is on offer?

The hypothalamus supplies the need: it senses low energy through hormones and nutrients in the blood and makes food more wanted. The orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex give each option its current value, which depends on hunger (the same pastry is worth less after a meal), and the striatum adds the pull of habit and reward. When a long-term goal argues against the pastry, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is engaged in weighing health against taste, and how much it does so tracks how much self-control the choice shows.