After hypothalamic lesions, rats were tested for hyperphagia and for finickiness, measured as increased sensitivity to the taste of food. Both conditions can be produced by lesions just posterior to the ventromedial nucleus, sparing this nucleus complete. The degree of hyperphagia is a function of the amount of destruction of this hypothalamic area. Obesity is not a necessary condition for obesity: the neural mechanisms are separate but overlapping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)