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How can damage to the lateral hypothalamus affect eating and drinking?

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Two wild horses graze on tall grass in the open prairie of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with rolling badlands visible in the background. — Feeding behaviour Wild horses graze in the Badlands of North Dakota.

The lateral hypothalamus plays a critical role in regulating feeding and drinking behaviors. Damage to this region has distinct effects on these two essential functions:

Eating: The lateral hypothalamus is often referred to as the hunger center because it facilitates feeding responses. Experimental destruction of this area typically results in aphagia, or a prolonged refusal to eat, causing the subject to consume significantly less food or stop eating entirely. While artificial feeding may allow other brain areas to eventually compensate and restore some level of normal feeding, the immediate impact of such damage is a severe loss of the drive to eat.12
Drinking: Damage to specific neurons within the lateral hypothalamus can also lead to a loss of the urge to drink, even when the subject continues to eat normally. This occurs because the hypothalamus contains osmoreceptors that monitor cellular dehydration and the concentration of dissolved substances in the extracellular fluid, which are vital for triggering the sensation of thirst.1