Shaping that behavior would probably be tricky, but it’s conceivable that that some temporary top-down control could be accomplished by reusing the circuits that naturally suppress hunger at times of more urgent competing needs

They can certainly turn the off temporarily. Recent example here: www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Likewise hunger/thirst/fear can temporarily turn off pain: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Can they learn to turn these neurons through some act of volition? I would guess so

Caught your chat on DTG today - really great intro to the problems that can befall fields when they stumble on technology that offers very high-dimensional data. Thank you!

Incidentally, you cite Jaqueline Crawley’s 20 year review in support of a point about the poor validity of such models, which is belied by the major takeaway she derives that review. Shank3 and BTBR KO models, as an example, have shown reliable profiles on tests of social behavior

Very impressive work! Really appreciate the effort that it takes to do this kind of critical review.
One small point in defense of rodent models of autistic-like traits: single gene mutations creating heterogeneous outcomes for a highly polygenic disorder is no surprise - not evidence against tests

True. “Affect” has real gravitas. “Emotion” is right there though - buzzing around optimistically, looking for another place to land.

This fallacy has a lovely name: the argument from personal incredulity