Animals constantly arbitrate between exploring to find new resources and exploiting their finds. In vertebrates, hypothalamic circuits tune this balance by integrating, for example, hunger to reshape movement patterns. The precise mechanisms are unknown. I propose that flies possess an analogous architecture that reads metabolic state and reweights navigational goals. Leveraging the many tools available in this simpler system, I will address an unresolved question: how does internal state, such as hunger, change neural computation so an animal chooses the most appropriate survival strategy?
